Tightening the Grip on the Strait: Houthis Capture Additional Islands in the Red Sea

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have captured the Greater and Lesser Hanish Islands in the southern Red Sea, strengthening their control over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The takeover follows last week's capture of the port of Mocha and Mayyun Island. The advance threatens major shipping routes and Saudi oil infrastructure, adding pressure on global oil prices.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have captured additional strategic islands in the southern Red Sea, strengthening their hold on a key maritime shipping route. The capture of the Greater and Lesser Hanish Islands came as Saudi-backed government forces attempted to regroup over the weekend and fight back after the rebels' rapid advance around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital waterway alternative to the Strait of Hormuz. The Houthis' new gains allow them to further threaten Saudi crude oil shipments, which have used the Red Sea as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has attacked shipping. The escalation—particularly Houthi attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure and its shipping in the Red Sea—adds pressure on oil supply and global oil prices, and could give Iran an advantage in its war with the United States. The Houthi rebels deployed fighters on the Hanish Islands, 160 kilometers north of Bab el-Mandeb, after hundreds of allied government forces withdrew from the archipelago. The capture of the islands came after the rebels seized the port city of Mocha on the nearby mainland and Mayyun Island, located within the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, last week. The Houthi advance has placed them just 32 kilometers from the US military base in Djibouti. The advance met little resistance from internationally recognized government forces. The fighting is pushing Yemen back into a full-scale civil war, after a ceasefire that had largely held for the past three years.