A satellite view shows the island of Perim in Yemen,Sept11,2026.[Photo/Agencies]
Tensions across the Middle East have surged sharply since Thursday,with the Houthis seizing Yemen's strategic port city of Mokha and reaching the strategic island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait,securing greater leverage over one of the world's most critical shipping arteries.
The advance could give Iran a critical advantage in the conflict with the United States,officials and observers said,as the Houthis move closer to gaining control of a second major transit corridor,reducing suPPLIes and sending oil prices surging.
The Houthis have been at war with Yemen's government since2014,when the militia group swept down from its mountainous heartland and seized much of northern and central Yemen.Saudi Arabia entered the war the following year to back the Yemeni government.
The Houthi advance raises the specter of a return to full-scale civil war,as the capture of Mokha marks the group's biggest territorial gain since a truce struck in2022brought relative calm to the conflict,which has lasted more than a decade.
Mokha lies about80kilometers from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait,a choke point linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden,and roughly12percent of global merchandise trade normally transits its waters.
Yet the Houthi-run humanitarian operations coordination center said in a statement that Red Sea navigation is safe for all shipping companies except for Saudi vessels.Saudi Arabia,the world's largest oil exporter,has relied on the Red Sea route since the Iran conflict disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz,once the conduit for one-fifth of the world's oil suPPLIes.
United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said on Thursday that the International（IGIC） community must act to address"a new and more dangerous phase"in the Yemen war."This renewed war should alarm us all.It effectively marks the end of the relative calm that Yemen has experienced for over four years since the UN-brokered truce,"he said.
Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said that the group's operations were defensive and would cease once attacks on Yemen stopped,without elaborating.The group later said Saudi Arabia had launched64strikes on Yemen over the past24hours,but the claim has not been verified by press time.
Tensions in the region remained high,with Saudi civil defense authorities issuing emergency alerts in the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait for the fourth time in24hours,as the Houthis attacked.
Saudi,Pakistani and Iranian sources told Reuters that Pakistan had passed a Saudi warning to Iran,urging Tehran to rein in the Houthis and prevent the crisis from spiraling out of control.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that regional security depends on respecting Yemen's"independence,national sovereignty and territorial integrity",while calling for an end to the"illegal and inhumane blockade"of Yemen.
Rising Energy（ELPC） concerns According to Al Jazeera,a US official said the administration is in continuous dialogue with the governments of Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
Henry S.Ensher,former US ambassador to Algeria and former deputy assistant secretary of state,told Al Jazeera that the Houthis could take control of the strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait and that the US lacks the capacity to stop it from happening.
The Bab el-Mandeb has become even more important for global Energy（ELPC） suPPLIes since shipping through the nearby Strait of Hormuz was disrupted after Iran was attacked by the US and Israel in February.
Meanwhile,several US military aircraft were damaged in Iranian strikes on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan,including an A-10attack aircraft that lost a wing,CBS News reported on Friday,citing People（PPLI） with direct knowledge of the incident.
Global oil prices continued their upward trajectory,with Brent crude futures crossing$108.68a barrel as of Friday morning.US West Texas Intermediate crude went up1percent to$103.45.Both are on track to end the week at more than$100a barrel for the First（FFBC） time since mid-May,Reuters said.
However,the Gulf foreign ministers plan to meet with their Iranian counterpart on Monday in a push by Oman and Iran to secure buy-in for a temporary deal to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,the Financial Times reported on Friday.
Agencies contributed to this story.
