Houthis Seize Yemen’s Mocha Port as Bab el-Mandeb Advance Threatens Global Energy Flows
By Jahanzaib Saqib — SCN NEWS
ADEN/DUBAI — Iran-aligned Houthi forces seized Yemen’s strategic Red Sea port city of Mocha on Thursday and advanced toward positions that could increase their leverage over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, opening a potentially dangerous second front for global energy shipping while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains severely disrupted by the Iran-U.S. conflict. Four Yemeni government military sources told Reuters that Houthi forces had captured Mocha and were attacking the strategically located Hanish Islands, while two government sources later said the group had reached the islands. The Associated Press separately reported the Houthi takeover of the port city, describing it as a significant territorial gain near one of the world’s most important maritime corridors.
The advance matters far beyond Yemen because Bab el-Mandeb forms the southern entrance to the Red Sea, connecting shipping from the Gulf of Aden with routes toward the Suez Canal and Mediterranean. Mocha lies roughly 80 kilometres from the strait, while control of coastal positions including Dhubab and nearby islands would provide greater strategic leverage over the narrow waterway. Yemeni government forces and allies were relocating south along the coast toward Dhubab as the battle increasingly focused on territory capable of influencing passage through the strait.
The timing magnifies the energy risk. Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, has become increasingly dependent on Red Sea routes as fighting involving Iran and the United States has sharply reduced traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, historically a route for about one-fifth of global oil supplies. Only seven vessels transited Hormuz on Wednesday, according to preliminary ship-tracking data cited by Reuters, about half the preceding 10-day average. A simultaneous deterioration around Bab el-Mandeb would therefore threaten another major outlet used by energy and commodity shipments moving between the Gulf, Red Sea and Mediterranean.
Oil markets reacted quickly to the mounting shipping risk. Reuters reported Brent crude rising about 3.5% to above $100 a barrel on Thursday, while broader market reporting showed crude extending gains as traders assessed the possibility that disruption could spread across two of the Middle East’s critical maritime corridors. The risk is not simply that the Houthis physically close Bab el-Mandeb; an increased threat of missile, drone or maritime attacks can also raise insurance costs, deter commercial operators and force ships onto longer routes.
The Houthi advance follows a sharp escalation in Yemen after years in which a 2022 truce had substantially reduced large-scale fighting. The group entered the current Iran conflict with an attack on Israel in March and later declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in July before intensifying attacks on the kingdom’s south in September. Saudi civil defence authorities issued repeated emergency alerts in Khamis Mushait on Thursday as tensions rose, while renewed fighting between the Houthis and forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally backed government increased fears that the country could slide back toward full-scale civil war.
Pakistan has meanwhile emerged as a diplomatic intermediary in an important development linking Islamabad directly to the crisis. Saudi, Pakistani and Iranian sources told Reuters that Pakistan delivered a Saudi message urging Iran to rein in its Houthi allies in an effort to prevent further escalation. A senior Iranian official confirmed that Pakistan conveyed the message to Tehran on Tuesday but said Iran’s response was that it did not control the Houthis. The exchange places Pakistan in a sensitive diplomatic position involving Saudi Arabia, Iran and a conflict now carrying direct implications for global energy security.
The Houthis are widely aligned with and supported by Iran, but Tehran's degree of operational control over individual Houthi decisions remains disputed, making attribution important as the confrontation expands. The group has previously attacked commercial shipping and Israel with missiles and drones, while its latest territorial advance gives it something potentially more consequential than individual attacks: stronger geographical leverage close to Bab el-Mandeb itself. Government military sources said control of Dhubab and the island of Perim would be particularly important to gaining influence over the strait.
The resulting strategic picture is markedly different from earlier Red Sea disruptions. Previously, shipping companies could weigh the Red Sea threat against alternative Gulf export routes, but disruption around Hormuz has already constrained one of the principal arteries of global energy trade. A sustained Houthi ability to threaten Bab el-Mandeb could therefore put pressure on both sides of the Arabian Peninsula simultaneously, exposing oil markets to a potential dual-chokepoint crisis rather than an isolated Red Sea security episode.