Houthis seize Red Sea island, tighten grip on critical shipping route

In the span of a single week, the Iran-backed Houthis have seized control of two strategic positions that reshape the geography of global commerce. On Friday, they took Perim Island, a sliver of land sitting at the narrowest point of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, after pro-government forces withdrew. A day earlier, they had captured Mokha, a port city on Yemen's western coast. Together, these advances mean the Houthis now command the entire coastline along the Red Sea—a waterway that has become one of the world's most consequential shipping channels.

The military operation began on September 3, according to Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea, who framed it as a response to what he called Saudi Arabia's "blatant aggression." Sarea claimed the Houthis had expelled Saudi-backed forces from six districts across the Taiz and Hodeidah regions, with hundreds of troops killed, wounded, or captured. The Houthis issued a statement after taking Perim declaring the operation a success and asserting that maritime navigation would remain safe for all commercial vessels except those flying Saudi colors. The statement itself, however, made no mention of Perim Island—a notable omission that underscores the sensitivity of controlling this particular piece of territory.

Why does a small island matter so much? Perim sits at the chokepoint where the Red Sea narrows into the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a passage through which enormous volumes of global trade flow. Saudi Arabia has depended on this route to ship oil to Asian markets, particularly as tensions between the United States and Iran have made the Strait of Hormuz—another critical waterway—increasingly unreliable. The Houthis' consolidation of control over this corridor has already begun to ripple outward: oil prices have surged in response to the escalating conflict.

The diplomatic response from Washington has been notably restrained. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler, personally pressed President Donald Trump to authorize direct military action against the Houthis during their rapid advance, according to two sources who spoke to CBS News. Trump declined to commit American forces to combat operations. Instead, the administration offered to provide intelligence and targeting support—a posture that stops well short of the military intervention Riyadh sought. A senior Trump administration official told the BBC that the United States remains in "continuous dialogue" with Saudi Arabia and Yemen's internationally recognized government regarding regional stability, language that signals engagement without commitment.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian toll has accelerated sharply. The International Organization for Migration reported that at least 46,000 people have been displaced in Yemen since the fighting intensified, with the organization noting that the number was "alarmingly rising by the hour." Amy Pope, the IOM's director general, described families being forced to flee repeatedly throughout the conflict, often with almost nothing remaining. Hundreds have been killed and thousands more displaced in just the past week. The scale of displacement reflects not only the Houthi offensive but also the Saudi-led coalition's air strikes on Houthi-controlled areas in western Yemen, launched in support of pro-government forces.

The conflict has also drawn in neighboring Iraq. On Friday, drones originating from Iraq's Maysan governorate—a province bordering Iran—struck Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline, forcing it to close as a precautionary measure and injuring several people. Iraq's government condemned the attack, and the prime minister launched an investigation that resulted in the removal of the operations commander in that region from his post. Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry indicated it would not retaliate at this stage, following a call from Iraq's prime minister.

The Houthis have maintained that they pose no threat to international shipping while continuing to threaten Saudi vessels specifically. This distinction matters for global markets: a complete closure of the Bab al-Mandab Strait would be catastrophic for world trade, but selective targeting of Saudi shipping creates a different kind of pressure—one that isolates a single nation while allowing commerce to flow for others. The group ousted Yemen's internationally recognized government in 2015, triggering Saudi military intervention that has defined the country's civil war ever since. A truce that had held for more than four years collapsed in July, and the Houthis' latest advances suggest the conflict is entering a new and more volatile phase.