Houthis reach Perim Island, raising threat to Red Sea shipping

Dhubab, Yemen. Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis reached the strategic island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Friday, four Yemeni government sources told Reuters, potentially strengthening their control over a vital shipping route and increasing pressure on energy markets amid the wider Middle East war.

Two sources from Yemen’s Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government said government forces had withdrawn from Perim and that the Houthis had also captured the Red Sea coastal town of Dhubab, opposite the island.

Strategic shipping route

Full Houthi control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz, could give Iran a strategic advantage in its war with the United States by restricting supplies through a second major transit corridor and pushing oil prices higher.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, has relied on the Red Sea route since the Iran conflict effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil previously flowed.

Global oil prices were on course to end the week above $100 a barrel for the first time since mid-May. Prices were slightly lower on Friday after the Financial Times reported that Middle East foreign ministers were seeking a temporary agreement to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report.

Government response

Yemeni government forces indicated that they would seek to retake areas captured by the Houthis during their rapid offensive along the Red Sea coast this week.

The government said it would deploy weapons and aircraft to eliminate any movement by what it described as “terrorist” Houthi militias in strategic areas, including the road leading to Mocha. The Houthis captured Mocha on Thursday along with the Red Sea islands of Hanish.

Military spokesman Colonel Majed al-Nazili urged civilians to avoid the route between Taiz and Mocha and to stay away from Houthi equipment.

Fighting intensifies

Fighting between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces has intensified in recent days, with the Iran-aligned group shifting its focus towards control of Yemen’s long coastline rather than only the north and the country’s most populous areas.

The Houthis, mountain fighters who endured years of Saudi air strikes during Yemen’s civil war, have expanded their operations along the Red Sea coast.