Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have taken the last government-held towns along the country’s Red Sea coast and moved onto Mayyun Island in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, government officials and witnesses said on Friday, tightening their grip on one of the world’s most important shipping routes.
The rapid advance followed the capture of the port city of Mocha and the Hanish Islands on Thursday. Houthi fighters subsequently entered Dhubab, on the coast of Bab al-Mandeb, as government forces withdrew from Mayyun, also known as Perim.
The gains give the Houthis control of the Yemeni coast at the southern entrance to the Red Sea and a presence on an island dividing the strait’s two main shipping channels.
Four Yemeni government sources told Reuters that Houthi fighters reached Mayyun on Friday. Two of the sources said forces loyal to Yemen’s Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government had withdrawn from the island and that the Houthis had also taken Dhubab.
A senior military official from the Yemeni government and a Houthi official separately confirmed the capture of Mayyun to the Associated Press.
“The Houthis have completed their takeover of the Bab al-Mandeb area,” a source in the government-aligned forces told AFP.
The Sanaa-based Yemen Press Agency, citing field sources, said Houthi forces had seized Al-Omari military camp overlooking the strait, Dhabab Mountain and the islands of Zuqar and Mayyun.
The agency said large quantities of weapons and military equipment were seized at Al-Omari camp and dozens of fighters from the government-aligned Giants Brigades were detained.
It also claimed that Saudi military equipment stationed on Mayyun had been captured.
The Houthi authorities in Sanaa had not formally announced complete control of Bab al-Mandeb at the time of publication.
Hazam al-Assad, a member of the Houthi political bureau, told AP there was “no need for international concern”, saying the group was responding to Saudi attacks.
He warned, however, that Houthi forces had “a bank of big important targets” if Saudi Arabia continued its military campaign.
RAPID ADVANCE DOWN THE COAST
The latest territorial gains followed a major Houthi offensive launched on September 3 along three axes in western Taiz, southern Hodeidah and the approaches to Mocha.
Fighting initially centred on government-held areas south of Hodeidah and west of Taiz. The Houthis subsequently captured Hays district, al-Khawkhah and positions around Jabal al-Nar, allowing them to advance towards Mocha from the north and east.
Government-aligned forces carried out air, rocket and drone attacks against Houthi positions and reinforcements, while further clashes spread to al-Jawf, al-Bayda, Marib and al-Dhalea.
The pressure on Mocha intensified as Houthi forces approached the city through al-Waziyah and Mawza. Fighters reached the port at dawn on Thursday after the National Resistance Forces, led by Tareq Saleh, withdrew.
Residents later reported seeing Houthi fighters and military vehicles throughout the city. Markets were closed, roads leading to Mocha were blocked and families began leaving towards Dhubab, Lahij and Aden.
Mocha had been the last major Red Sea port under the full control of Yemen’s internationally recognised government and an important entry point for supplies to government-aligned forces in Taiz and along the western coast.
The Houthis also moved offshore during the advance.
Yemeni government military sources said fighters reached Zuqar, Greater Hanish and Lesser Hanish by boat after launching missile attacks from the mainland. Government-aligned forces subsequently withdrew from the islands.
Zuqar and the Hanish Islands lie between Hodeidah and Bab al-Mandeb and provide positions overlooking vessels approaching the strait from the north.
GOVERNMENT PROMISES COUNTEROFFENSIVE
The coastal advance unfolded while Yemen’s government was pursuing a wider campaign against the Houthis on several inland fronts.
Government officials had announced counterattacks in al-Jawf, al-Bayda, Taiz, Hodeidah and Marib, saying the eventual objective was to retake Sanaa.
Rashad al-Alimi, head of the Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council, said government forces would continue fighting until state institutions and government authority were restored throughout Yemen.
The government claimed gains against Houthi forces in al-Jawf and al-Bayda, but its forces were unable to prevent the loss of southern Hodeidah, Mocha, Dhubab and the Red Sea islands.
Government military spokesperson Colonel Majed al-Nazili said on Friday that weapons and aircraft would be deployed against Houthi movements in the captured coastal areas.
He warned civilians against travelling on the road between Taiz and Mocha and urged them to remain away from Houthi positions, vehicles and military equipment.
There were few immediate signs, however, that government forces had begun an operation to retake Mocha, Dhubab or Mayyun.
Saudi aircraft struck Mocha airport after the Houthi takeover, according to a Houthi-run broadcaster. There was no immediate report of casualties or damage.
Saudi Arabia had not publicly commented on the reported attack, but Saudi aircraft had already carried out dozens of strikes across Taiz, Hodeidah, al-Jawf and Marib during the renewed fighting.
The Houthis said the attacks on Yemen would be met with further strikes against Saudi Arabia.
Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam described the coastal offensive as a “national operation” aimed at asserting Yemeni sovereignty and said the group had no further territorial ambitions.
“Navigation and international trade in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait remain safe and uninterrupted,” he said.
The Houthi-run Humanitarian Operations Coordination Centre said international vessels could continue using the Red Sea, but added that a ban on Saudi shipping would remain in place.
The Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in July and have since attacked vessels they describe as Saudi-owned, Saudi-linked or bound for the kingdom.
SECOND PRESSURE POINT FOR GLOBAL SHIPPING
Bab al-Mandeb is the southern gateway to the Red Sea and provides access to the Suez Canal, linking shipping routes between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
The strait lies between Yemen and the coasts of Djibouti and Eritrea. It is about 29 kilometres wide at its narrowest point and is divided by Mayyun Island into two channels used by inbound and outbound vessels.
Approximately 12 percent of global trade normally passes through the waterway. Petroleum volumes transiting the strait in June were equivalent to about seven percent of global oil production, according to market data cited by Reuters.
The capture of Dhubab and Mayyun places Houthi forces beside both shipping channels and strengthens their position over vessels entering or leaving the Red Sea.
Houthi attacks on commercial shipping, launched in late 2023 in what the group described as support for Palestinians in Gaza, prompted major shipping and energy companies to suspend or reduce operations through the Red Sea.
Shipping through Bab al-Mandeb subsequently fell by about 60 percent as vessels were redirected around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. The alternative route adds weeks to some journeys and significantly increases transport and insurance costs.
The importance of Bab al-Mandeb has increased further since the war between the United States and Iran began earlier this year and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was sharply restricted.
About one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies passed through Hormuz before the war. Iran’s attacks on vessels and restrictions on maritime traffic have since forced Gulf exporters to search for alternative routes.
Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on its East-West pipeline to carry crude from production areas near the Gulf to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, allowing exports to avoid Hormuz.
The capture of Yemen’s Red Sea coast gives an Iranian ally greater influence over the alternative route used by Riyadh.
IRANIAN ROLE AND REGIONAL ESCALATION
The Houthi advance has added a second major maritime front to the war between Iran and the United States.
Yemeni government, Iranian and regional sources told Reuters that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) provided direct guidance for the offensive along the Red Sea coast.
Two Iranian sources said Tehran had instructed the Houthis to escalate attacks against Saudi Arabia and promised additional funding, weapons and senior military officers.
Several Revolutionary Guard commanders had travelled to Yemen to assist with attacks against Saudi Arabia, according to a regional diplomat briefed by Tehran.
Yemeni military sources said they believed the coastal operation was being directed by Abdolreza Shahlaei, a senior commander in the Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force.
Another Iranian official said the decision to capture Mocha had been made by the Houthis rather than Tehran, although the offensive benefited Iran by increasing pressure on the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Iran describes the Houthis as an ally but denies directing their military operations, saying the group is “not a proxy”.
The Houthis had initially remained largely outside the conflict after US and Israeli attacks on Iran began. They later entered the war with missile attacks against Israel and intensified their operations against Saudi Arabia during the summer.
The group launched one of its largest attacks on Saudi territory earlier this week, targeting Abha, Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait with missiles and drones.
Saudi authorities said 73 people, including women and children, were injured. Oil facilities, utilities and an airbase were among the reported targets.
Saudi Arabia said the attacks represented a dangerous escalation and that it reserved the right to respond.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry called on Friday for an end to what it described as the Saudi blockade of Yemen and urged negotiations between Riyadh and the Houthis.
It was Tehran’s first formal statement on Yemen since the capture of Mocha.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also spoke separately with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, about regional stability and efforts to prevent further escalation.
Pakistan had earlier conveyed a Saudi warning to Tehran over the Houthi attacks.
Islamabad is seeking to balance its relations with Iran against its close military ties with Saudi Arabia and its obligations under a defence agreement with Riyadh and Ankara.
The agreement treats an armed attack against any of the three countries as an attack against all of them.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said no military response under the agreement was currently being discussed, but added that Islamabad would act under the pact “when the time comes”.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also called US President Donald Trump twice on Thursday and urged him to order strikes against the Houthis, Axios reported, citing US officials.
Trump rejected the request, while US officials said Washington intended to increase support for Saudi Arabia without becoming directly involved in another military front, according to the report.
CIVILIANS FLEE AS TRUCE UNRAVELS
The renewed fighting has displaced more than 46,000 people, according to the United Nations migration agency.
Large numbers of residents were seen leaving Mocha with their belongings after Houthi forces entered the city. Families also fled other areas of Taiz and southern Hodeidah towards Dhubab, Lahij and Aden.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said earlier this week that at least 728 people had been killed or wounded since August 23.
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg told the Security Council that the country had entered “a new and more dangerous phase”.
He said the capture of Mocha had given the Houthis a direct presence on the approaches to one of the world’s most important straits and raised serious concerns over freedom of navigation.
The Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern and central Yemen in 2014. Saudi Arabia intervened the following year in support of the internationally recognised government.
The conflict has killed more than 150,000 people and pushed millions towards hunger in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
A UN-brokered truce largely halted major fighting in 2022, although the parties did not reach a lasting political settlement.
The capture of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, renewed Saudi air strikes and Houthi attacks on the kingdom have now raised fears that the truce could collapse completely and the country could return to full-scale war.