CAIRO / DUBAI — Iran-aligned Houthi forces seized Yemen’s Red Sea port city of Mocha on Thursday, four Yemeni government military sources told Reuters, increasing leverage over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as Brent crude hovered above $100 a barrel.
The sources said the Houthis were also attacking the strategic Hanish islands. Government forces and allies were relocating south along the coast toward Dhubab, which sits on the strait opposite Perim Island. Control of Dhubab and the island is seen as key to holding the waterway.
Saudi Arabia has relied more on Red Sea shipping since the Iran conflict largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, which once carried about a fifth of global oil. The Houthis entered the wider war with an attack on Israel on March 28, later declaring a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in July and stepping up strikes on the kingdom’s south in September.
Saudi civil defence issued emergency alerts in Khamis Mushait for the fourth time in 24 hours. Pakistan delivered a Saudi warning asking Tehran to rein in the Houthis; a senior Iranian official said Iran’s reply was that it “does not control the Houthis.”
Sources: Reuters
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