Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis reached the strategic island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Friday, four Yemeni government sources told Reuters, moving to tighten their grip on a vital global shipping route in the widening Middle East war.
Earlier, two sources from the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised Yemeni government said its forces had pulled out of Perim and that the Houthis had also taken the mainland Red Sea coastal town of Dhubab, which faces the island.
If the Houthis gain control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which is on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz, it could give their backer Iran a critical advantage in its war with the U.S., reducing supplies through a second major transit corridor and sending oil prices surging.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter and a close U.S. ally, has relied on the Red Sea route since the Iran conflict effectively closed Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil used to flow.
In the wider war between Iran and the U.S., the two sides have carried out a wave of tit-for-tat attacks this week on shipping in the Gulf, while President Donald Trump has jacked up economic pressure on Tehran. Diplomacy is largely stalled.
Iran confirmed on Friday that its representatives and those of Iraq and the Gulf Arab states would meet in Oman on Monday to resume discussions on safe commercial shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz. The Financial Times originally reported the planned meeting.
SMOKE SEEN ABOVE SAUDI EAST-WEST OIL PIPELINE
In a further potentially significant development for Riyadh, satellite imagery showed smoke on Thursday in the vicinity of Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline, which has become a vital means for the kingdom to divert its crude exports from Hormuz.
There was no confirmation from Saudi Arabia of any incident in the area. The Saudi government media office and state oil giant Aramco did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the smoke visible in the imagery verified by Reuters.
Aramco has used the East-West pipeline to ramp up crude flows from Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast to the Red Sea after U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran began six months ago, prompting Tehran to effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi crude supply fell 2.3 million barrels per day on the month in August to 6 million bpd, the lowest level in more than three decades, the International Energy Agency said on Friday, partly due to the targeting of ships transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait by groups linked to Yemen’s Houthis.
Global oil prices were on track to end the week above $100 a barrel for the first time since mid-May.
Vessels recorded transiting the Strait of Hormuz fell to seven on Thursday from 11 the previous day, preliminary ship-tracking data showed on Friday, well below the 10-day average of 10.
The Houthis’ military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said on Telegram that maritime navigation remained safe for all shipping except Saudi vessels subject to a previously announced ban.
“We will continue to enforce blockade for blockade and escalation for escalation until the aggression stops and the blockade on our people is lifted,” he said on Friday, referring to Saudi attacks on Yemen.
YEMENI GOVERNMENT FORCES PLOT COUNTER-OFFENSIVE
Yemeni government forces indicated they would try to retake areas captured by the Houthi militants in their lightning offensive this week along the Red Sea coastline.
They announced they would deploy weapons and aircraft to eliminate any movement of the “terrorist” Houthi militias in strategic areas, including the road leading to the coastal city of Mocha, which the militant group captured on Thursday along with the Red Sea islands of Hanish.
Military spokesman Colonel Majed al-Nazili called on civilians to avoid using the route between the city of Taiz and Mocha and steer clear of equipment belonging to the Houthis, mountain fighters who withstood years of devastating Saudi airstrikes during Yemen’s civil war.
Reuters reported on Thursday that the dramatic Houthi advance down Yemen’s Red Sea coast this week came with direct guidance from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seeking to open a new front in Tehran’s war with the U.S., according to Yemeni government, Iranian and regional sources.
Iran told the Houthis last week to escalate their attacks on Saudi Arabia and promised more funding, weapons and senior officers to help them do so, two Iranian sources said.
While Iran describes the Houthis as an ally, it publicly denies giving them military direction, saying they are “not a proxy”.
SAUDI CROWN PRINCE ASKED TRUMP FOR MILITARY HELP, SOURCES SAY
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called Trump at least twice on Thursday to request U.S. military help in fighting the Houthis, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday, confirming an earlier report by Axios.
In the end, Washington told Riyadh it was not willing to take direct military action for now but would help with intelligence sharing and targeting, the two sources said.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Saudi embassy in Washington declined to comment.
The war has sent Trump’s approval ratings to a record low ahead of the November midterm elections in the United States.
(Reuters)
