Yemen's Former Prime Minister Warns Fall of Taiz Would Threaten West and Key Strait

Yemen's former prime minister says the fight around the city of Taiz carries stakes far beyond Yemen, warning that its loss would threaten Western security and access to the Bab al-Mandab strait.

Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed, who served as prime minister between 2018 and 2024 and now advises President Rashad al-Alimi, said it would be catastrophic if the city fell to the Houthis. Taiz, whose urban area houses more than 500,000 people, has become the new frontline between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces. The Guardian

A UN-brokered ceasefire, an agreement to stop fighting, in 2022 froze the frontlines and was followed by four years of relative calm. Saeed, a former negotiator with the Houthis, said the group launched a military campaign in the month before 16 October 2026 to take Yemen's Red Sea coast.

Saeed described the battle around Taiz as a broader battle involving the whole of the western world and one of the most important maritime straits. He warned that if Taiz is lost, access to the Bab al-Mandab strait will be lost.

He said the Houthis intend to seize control of all of Yemen and claimed their goal is to help Iran to expand chaos. He also said intelligence showed the Houthis were seeking to control parts of southern Yemen including al-Sabiha in Lahij governorate and eventually Aden.

Saeed admitted that Taiz only had light weapons and said Yemen's government had not been prepared for the loss of the west coast.

The Yemeni army said its forces had recaptured several strategic positions from the Houthi group in Taiz and Al-Hudaydah in western Yemen. Middle East Monitor