Houthis Seize Yemeni Port, Threaten Key Red Sea Route

The Iran-aligned Houthis have seized the Yemeni port city of Mocha and advanced along the Red Sea coast as far as the Hanish Islands, military sources said, strengthening their position near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The strait forms the southern gateway to the Red Sea and is one of the world’s most important shipping routes. If the Houthis were to gain control of the waterway, Iran could secure a critical strategic advantage in its war with the US by disrupting a second major oil transit corridor.

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula, is already severely restricted by the conflict. Further disruption to shipping could put additional pressure on global oil supplies.

Those concerns have already hit markets, with Brent crude jumping above $105 a barrel on Thursday. UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg warned that the conflict had entered “a new and more dangerous phase”.

The US has accused the Houthis of acting as “agents and tools of Iran”. Tehran maintains that it does not control the group, although Yemeni government, Iranian and regional sources told Reuters that the latest Houthi advance came with direct guidance from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Donald Trump, meanwhile, has reiterated that he expects the war with Iran to end immediately after the November midterm elections.

(Reuters, mja)