Houthis seize strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, threatening global shipping routes

The Iran-backed Houthi movement has taken control of Yemen's Red Sea coastline, including the strategically vital Bab al-Mandeb Strait—a narrow waterway that serves as the southern gateway to the Red Sea and one of the world's most consequential shipping passages. Houthi fighters reached the coastal town of al-Makha at dawn on Thursday, then advanced toward nearby islands. By Friday, government sources confirmed that Houthi forces had also occupied Dhubab, another coastal settlement, and had moved onto Mayyun Island, known locally as Perim, which sits at the center of the strait itself. Government forces withdrew from these positions without mounting a sustained defense.

The seizure of Perim Island carries outsized strategic weight. The island occupies the geographic heart of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the narrow passage that connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea and, by extension, to the Suez Canal. One source told Agence France-Presse that the Houthis had completed their takeover of the entire Bab al-Mandeb area. The Sanaa-based Yemen Press Agency reported that Houthi forces had seized the Al-Omari camp, which overlooks the strait. The Houthis themselves have not issued an official public announcement confirming their control, though reporting from Al Jazeera's correspondent in Sanaa indicated they now command both the strait and the shipping traffic moving through it.

This territorial gain amplifies the group's leverage over global commerce and energy flows. The Bab al-Mandeb Strait has long served as a critical alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world's energy shipments typically pass. With the United States and Iran now at war, the Hormuz route has become even more fraught, making the Red Sea passage more valuable—and now more vulnerable. Shipping volumes through the Red Sea had already declined during an earlier Houthi campaign targeting commercial vessels in the region. The new territorial control gives the group direct authority over one of the world's most vital chokepoints.

Energy markets are already feeling the pressure. Diesel prices in the United States had climbed above six dollars per gallon, while crude oil was trading near one hundred dollars a barrel for the first time since mid-May. The International Energy Agency issued a forecast on Friday warning that global oil supply and demand would both decline more sharply than previously expected this year, with disruptions tied to the U.S.-Iran conflict expected to ripple through Middle Eastern oil flows well into 2027. The Houthi seizure of Bab al-Mandeb adds another layer of risk to an already strained energy landscape.

Yemeni government forces have shown little sign of preparing a counteroffensive to retake the lost territory. The swift Houthi advance and the government's apparent inability or unwillingness to mount resistance suggest a significant shift in the balance of power along Yemen's coast. With control of the strait now in Houthi hands, shipping companies and energy traders face a new calculus: navigating waters overseen by a group that has already demonstrated willingness to disrupt commercial traffic, all while global energy prices remain elevated and supply chains grow more fragile. The question now is whether the Houthis will use their newfound control to extract concessions, impose tolls, or launch further attacks on vessels passing through—and how quickly the international community might respond.