Houthis Reportedly Seize Mocha, Advance Toward Bab al-Mandab

Iran-aligned Houthi forces reportedly seized Yemen’s strategic Red Sea port city of Mocha and advanced south toward the Bab al-Mandab Strait after government forces withdrew. Reports also said the Houthis attacked or captured positions on the Hanish Islands, while government units retreated toward Dhubab and other areas near the strait; the Yemeni government had not independently confirmed all territorial claims. The developments increased Houthi leverage over a maritime chokepoint linking the Red Sea, Suez Canal and Gulf of Aden, raising risks to global shipping and energy supplies. The fighting represented the sharpest escalation since a 2022 U.N.-brokered truce and risked reviving Yemen’s civil war and widening regional tensions involving Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States. Saudi Arabia reportedly conducted dozens of airstrikes in response to Houthi attacks, and more than 190 people were reportedly killed in recent exchanges. Shipping through the Red Sea had already declined substantially after earlier Houthi attacks, while oil prices reportedly rose above $100 a barrel amid renewed security concerns.