After Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels seized even a strategic point of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the gateway to the Red Sea. With the United States facing off against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, it is now also in a position to defend the Red Sea route. Saudi Arabia, which redirected its crude exports to the Red Sea to avoid Hormuz, again finds its supply line under threat.
On the 11th (local time), according to foreign media including Reuters and the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the Houthi rebels captured the western Yemeni port city of Mocha and went on to seize Perim Island, a key position in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Perim Island, also known as Mayyun Island, is a volcanic island in the middle of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait between the African continent and Yemen. Because the island divides the strait into two shipping lanes, controlling it makes it much easier to monitor and threaten ships entering or leaving the Red Sea.
The Houthis have already deployed fighters and military vehicles along the Red Sea coast. By securing Perim Island as well, they have gained positions not only for long-range missiles and drones but also at points closer to the strait from which they can threaten ships.
The Houthi advance is also creating a new burden for the U.S. campaign against Iran. Since the memorandum of understanding (MOU) for an end to hostilities with Iran was scrapped in July, the United States has renewed its airstrikes against Iran in the Hormuz area while operating a confidential safe corridor south of the strait where U.S. forces provide escorts.
However, if the Bab el-Mandeb in the west is threatened following Hormuz on the east side of the Arabian Peninsula, U.S. forces will in effect have to ensure the safety of two key maritime supply routes at the same time.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said, "The expansion of Houthi power complicates the U.S. offensive against Iran," adding, "Control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait gives Iran's ally the ability to threaten another major maritime chokepoint after the Strait of Hormuz."
It added, "As U.S. forces struggle to break Iran's control in the Strait of Hormuz, pressure will mount to also protect ship operations in the Red Sea."
Even in this situation, the United States is drawing a line against opening a new front in Yemen right away. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly called President Trump twice on the 10th to ask for direct U.S. airstrikes against the Houthis but was refused.
According to the U.S. online outlet Axios, the United States decided to provide Saudi Arabia with non-kinetic support such as Houthi-related intelligence and target data but not to engage in direct military intervention. This is seen as an attempt to focus U.S. capabilities on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz while avoiding the opening of an additional front.
Meanwhile, as tensions rise in the Bab el-Mandeb, concerns are growing about international crude supply. Saudi Arabia, the Middle East's largest oil exporter, has been exporting crude from the Red Sea through a pipeline crossing the Arabian Peninsula after Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, the region's key crude shipping lane, but that bypass is now threatened by the Houthi offensive.
However, the Houthis claim they have no intention of blocking the free navigation of international vessels. Houthi Political Bureau Commissioner Hazem Al-Assad told the Arab media outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that international trade and navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait are being kept safe and that the international community has no reason for concern.