Houthi Forces Reach Perim Island as Some Reports Claim Full Control of Bab el Mandeb Strait

Houthi forces have reached the strategic island of Perim in the Bab el Mandeb Strait and taken the nearby coastal town of Dhubab, increasing concern over a second major maritime route at a time when shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is already severely disrupted.

What multiple sources have confirmed

Four Yemeni government sources told Reuters that Houthi forces had reached Perim, also known as Mayun, after forces aligned with Yemen's internationally recognized government withdrew from the island. The Associated Press separately confirmed the capture through a senior military official with the Yemeni government and a Houthi official, both speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists. Perim sits inside the Bab el Mandeb, the narrow waterway connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, dividing the strait's narrowest point into two shipping lanes. Ships using the Suez Canal to move between Europe and Asia normally pass through the strait.

Claims of a completed takeover, and a more cautious view

Some reporting now goes further than describing a territorial advance. A local Yemeni government official told Euronews the Houthis have completed their takeover of the Bab el Mandeb area and Mayun Island, and one source separately told AFP the same. However, not every assessment agrees that capturing these specific positions amounts to sovereign control of the strait itself. NBC News reported that even control of Mocha, Dhubab and Perim would not necessarily give the Houthis full command over international shipping through the waterway, since commercial vessels, regional militaries and foreign naval forces remain active throughout the wider area. Both characterizations are presented here because the underlying reporting genuinely differs on how far the practical takeover extends, not because one is clearly more authoritative than the other.

The Houthis' own position on navigation

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree addressed the navigation question directly on Friday evening. Maritime navigation is safe for all companies except Saudi ships, which have already been banned, Saree said, an exception the group has maintained as part of what it calls a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia specifically.

A rapid advance building on recent gains

The development follows the group's capture of the historic Red Sea port city of Mocha a day earlier and its push toward Dhubab, marking one of the Houthis' most significant territorial advances in years. Some reporting also indicates Houthi forces have taken the Hanish Islands and Zuqar Island further offshore, extending the scope of the advance beyond the immediate strait area.

Saudi Arabia's pipeline shutdown

Saudi Arabia shut its East West oil pipeline as a precaution after a drone attack, according to Saudi officials cited by Reuters and the Associated Press, and separately struck the airport in Mocha in response to the Houthi advance, according to a Houthi broadcaster, with no reports of damage or deaths from that strike. The pipeline has become especially important because it lets Saudi crude bypass the Strait of Hormuz entirely.

Why the timing compounds the risk

The timing heightens the advance's international significance. The Strait of Hormuz, on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula, has been heavily disrupted for months by the conflict involving Iran and the United States. Reuters reported that only seven large commercial vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on September 10, compared with a prewar daily average of about 125, illustrating the scale of disruption even without a formal permanent closure. If insecurity rises simultaneously around Hormuz and Bab el Mandeb, oil exporters and commercial shipping companies would have fewer practical alternatives for moving energy and goods through the region. Caroline Rose, a senior director at the Soufan Center, described the resulting dynamic to Euronews as a chokehold that will force shipping operators to reconsider costlier alternatives, since a vessel that once travelled through the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and on to Europe may now need a longer, more expensive route. Oil prices have remained above 100 dollars a barrel as markets assess whether Gulf and Red Sea disruptions could persist.

Where responsibility is disputed

The Houthis are aligned with Iran and receive Iranian support. However, Iran denies directing the group militarily, a distinction that matters because political and logistical support does not by itself prove direct Iranian control of each Houthi operation. Yemen's own government has rejected that distinction. Iran seeks to give the Houthis the ability to influence the Bab al Mandab Strait and the Red Sea, Rashad al Alimi, chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, said, directly blaming Tehran for driving the offensive. Yemen's internationally recognized government has indicated it intends to try to retake areas captured during the advance, and has announced plans to deploy heavy weapons and aircraft along strategic corridors including the route to Mocha, raising the possibility of heavier fighting along the Red Sea coast.

What happens next

The immediate question is whether the Houthis can consolidate their new positions and use them to increase pressure on shipping. The larger risk is that Yemen's civil war, which has simmered since 2014, becomes more deeply integrated into the regional confrontation involving Iran, the United States and Saudi Arabia. This process, United States officials say, is already underway, with a US official confirming to NBC News that American forces are helping Saudi counterparts develop and coordinate targeting inside Yemen. For global markets, physically closing the Bab el Mandeb is not required to cause disruption. A sustained increase in perceived danger can raise insurance costs, divert vessels and reduce traffic even while the waterway remains legally and physically open.