Houthis Seize Red Sea Island, Tightening Pressure on Bab el-Mandeb Shipping

Iranian-backed Houthi forces seized an island at the southern end of the Red Sea after days of fierce fighting, extending a coastal offensive that now sits close to traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. New York Times

The seizure followed the capture of Mocha, a Yemeni port city on the Red Sea. The Houthis, who are aligned with Iran, took control of Mocha on Thursday, Sept. 10, then advanced down the coast toward strategic islands. Reuters

From Mocha the fighters pushed south toward Dhubab on the coast, closing in on Bab el-Mandeb. That drive carried them to the Hanish islands after the fall of Mocha, according to Sept. 10 reporting on the coastal advance.

Those positions overlook the narrow southbound and northbound lanes, the marked sea highways that keep ships moving in opposite directions. Houthi advances have made it easier to target ships transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. CBS News

The offensive was directed and enabled from outside Yemen, according to sourcing cited in recent reporting. Iran told the Houthis last week to escalate attacks on Saudi Arabia. Reuters Iran also promised more funding and weapons tied to that escalation, and Iranian arms and advice helped the Houthis seize the Red Sea city.

The escalation has already reached Saudi air and energy sites. The Houthis said drones and missiles hit an airbase and multiple Saudi oil targets. A key oil pipeline was shut down after the Houthis seized a port and an island. The United States said it destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers. Reuters

The Red Sea drive is unfolding alongside direct confrontation in the Gulf. Iran targeted ships in the Strait of Hormuz and American troops in the region, while U.S. forces struck inside Iran, killing military personnel.

The broader context here is a two-strait pressure system, with Iran effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz and the Houthis in an unusually powerful position. Hormuz governs outbound crude and gas flows from the Gulf. Bab el-Mandeb governs passage between the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal. Disruption in one forces rerouting, higher insurance prices and naval convoys. Disruption in both leaves commercial operators and naval planners with fewer options at the same time.

Looking at what this means for Riyadh, the coastal campaign functions as coercive leverage. Houthi attacks create pressure on Saudi Arabia while demanding monetary and political concessions. Mocha, Dhubab, the Hanish group and the newly seized island do not need to close the strait to alter calculations. Persistent launch and surveillance positions within range of the shipping lanes raise the cost of transit and the cost of air defense.

In my view, the sequencing points to coordination rather than opportunism alone. Analysts said earlier this summer that Iran may be urging the Houthis to disrupt shipping in the Red Sea, which would cause further upheaval in global energy markets. That assessment described a division of labor in which Tehran contests Hormuz directly while the Houthis extend contestation to the Red Sea. The Mocha operation, the move on the islands, and the reported Iranian instruction last week to escalate against Saudi Arabia fit that pattern.

What the early operational details suggest is sustainment, not a single raid. Iranian arms and advice are credited with helping the seizure of Mocha. The promise of additional funding and weapons points to longer support. The Houthi claims of drone and missile strikes on Saudi bases and oil targets point to an air campaign layered over the ground advance, designed to stretch Saudi defenses between border areas and interior infrastructure.

What to watch now is whether the island and port positions become enduring firing and interdiction nodes. Fixed presence enables pre-positioning of anti-ship missiles, attack drones, small boats and sensors. It shortens flight times. It complicates attribution and preemption. The question is less whether traffic can still pass under escort and more what premium, delay and naval commitment continuous passage will require.