The Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Yemen on Friday declared they have taken control of Perim, a small volcanic island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital shipping chokepoint that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. The capture came one day after the Houthis took control of the port city of Mokha with assistance from Iran.
Sources within the internationally-recognized, but largely exiled, government of Yemen confirmed the Houthi capture of Perim and said the insurgents have also taken control of Dhubab, the port city closest to the island.
Saudi Arabia, which supports the government of Yemen and wants to keep the Red Sea route open for its oil shipments, launched airstrikes on Friday against the airport in Mokha, but it was not immediately clear if the strikes would be followed by ground action to retake the city.
Maj. Gen. Tareq Saleh, a commander in the Yemeni government’s armed forces, said he was obliged to order a “strategic retreat” away from the Houthi advance on the Bab el-Mandeb area.
“The armed forces in the western coast paid a heavy price — martyrs and wounded — over the past days as they confronted the Houthi attack planned by Iran, and supported by it,” he said.
A senior Yemeni military official told the Associated Press (AP) that his government was “stunned that the Saudi air force did not try to prevent the capture of Mokha” by “striking the Houthis as they advanced.”
The Yemeni official suspected the Saudis needed, and did not receive, approval from the United States for such defensive airstrikes. He also blamed a “lack of coordination” between forces allied to his government for giving the Houthis a “priceless opportunity” to capture vital coastal territory.
Axios reported on Thursday that Saudi Arabia’s de facto chief executive, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), personally called President Donald Trump twice and “urged him to launch strikes against the Houthis.”
Trump reportedly refused the request, in part because his administration does not wish to become directly involved in the long and brutal Yemeni civil war, which has now been raging for over 12 years. U.S. officials told their Saudi counterparts that Trump wants to keep American forces focused on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.
Another problem facing the Yemeni government is the loss of support from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which fell out with Saudi Arabia in January over UAE support for a separatist force in southern Yemen known as the Southern Transitional Council (STC).
The STC proved to be an effective anti-Houthi force, but it was also at odds with the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), the Yemeni government supported by Saudi Arabia. The Saudis forced the UAE out of Yemen, and the STC has been subsequently unwilling to fight outside of the territory it wants to separate from the rest of Yemen.
Iran, which has been desperate to open a new front in the conflict and put more economic pressure on the U.S. and its allies, on Friday demanded Saudi Arabia end its “blockade” of Yemen and return to peace negotiations with the Houthis.
A spokesman for Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) upped the ante by stating that any future negotiations with the United States should include Yemen as well as Lebanon, another theater where Iran’s proxy forces are active.
Houthi officials said on Friday they did not intend to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to all international shipping, only to Saudi Arabia.
“Freedom of navigation and international trade in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab are safe and orderly,” promised Houthi Politburo member Hazem al-Assad.
The oil markets are nevertheless jittery because losing the oil Saudi Arabia has been shipping through the Red Sea would be a blow to the world economy, and Houthi pirates have proven in the past to be much less precise about which ships they attack than they claim.
Benchmark oil prices surged over $100 per barrel this week, although they retreated a little on Friday, ending with a 9 percent gain for the week. Overall Saudi oil exports were down 23 percent for August, plunging to their lowest level since 1990.
“Once again, it is geopolitical fears driving everything,” said Jim Reid of Deutsche Bank on Friday morning.
“In terms of the latest Middle East headlines, yesterday saw growing concerns over the safety of Red Sea shipping, and the potential knock-on effects for Saudi oil exports, as Houthi rebels captured Yemen’s port city of Mokha, which is located close to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on the southern end of the Red Sea, Reid said.
The Houthis have also continued direct attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure, despite warnings from Pakistan that it might step in to defend the Saudis under the trilateral Mecca Joint Defense Agreement of August 2026 between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.
Satellite images led to as-yet unconfirmed reports on Friday that the Houthis attacked Saudi Arabia’s vital East-West oil pipeline, a 750-mile line that pumps crude oil from refineries in the city of Abqaiq to the Red Sea port city of Yanbu.
The Houthis have attacked the pipeline during previous scuffles with Saudi Arabia. After an attack in April, the Saudis repaired the pipeline and increased its capacity to about 7 million barrels per day (bpd). Yanbu has been loading about 3.7 million bpd since the beginning of September, as part of Saudi Arabia’s strategy to route its oil exports away from the Strait of Hormuz.
Although the massive smoke plume was visible from satellites, the Saudi government has not confirmed an attack on the East-West Pipeline or provided any details about the extent of the damage.