Houthi advance increases pressure on maritime route between Asia and Europe
The capture of Mocha and Perim Island strengthened the Houthis’ position near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, an important corridor for transporting energy and goods between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
The Houthi advance along Yemen’s western coast has heightened concern about navigation safety in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a strategic passage for vessels traveling between the Red Sea, the Suez Canal, and trade routes linking Asia and Europe.
On Thursday (10), the group said it had taken positions in the port city of Mocha, in the southwest of the country. The offensive followed weeks of operations along the coastal area known as Tihama and, according to sources interviewed by Reuters, received direct guidance from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — an allegation that was not confirmed by the Iranian sources cited in the same report.
The following day, the Houthis captured Perim Island, located within the Bab el-Mandeb Strait itself, according to Yemeni government sources interviewed by CNN Brasil. The position allows them to monitor or attempt to interrupt maritime traffic through the passage, which acts as a chokepoint between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The sequence of operations reinforced the group’s presence in an area through which goods and millions of barrels of oil pass every day. The capture of Mocha also coincided with a rise in oil prices, with the price of a barrel exceeding US$107 for the first time since May, as reported by CNN Brasil.
The advance is taking place amid a pause in Yemen’s main internal hostilities since the 2022 truce, but with new tensions between the Iran-backed Houthis and government forces backed by Saudi Arabia. The front lines remain fluid, and it is still unclear whether opposing forces will be able to retake the coastal positions.
For foreign trade, the main risk lies in the possibility of restrictions on traffic through Bab el-Mandeb. The passage is a gateway to the route connecting the Indian Ocean to the Suez Canal, so an interruption could increase pressure on energy supplies and the international flow of cargo.
Despite the concern, Houthi authorities said that the advance does not represent a threat to international shipping and that their targets are only Saudi ships. How the situation develops will depend on the response of forces backed by Riyadh and the Houthis’ ability to consolidate the positions they have captured.