Houthis seize Perim Island, tightening grip on Bab al-Mandab Strait

By continuing to browse our site you agree to our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.

Houthi fighters gather during a campaign to mobilize more fighters amid an escalation of fighting, in Sanaa, Yemen, September 10, 2026. /VCG

Yemen's Houthi forces have seized strategic Perim Island in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, escalating a conflict that is increasingly putting pressure on the United States, threatening Gulf oil shipments and pushing global crude prices above $100 a barrel.

The advance has prompted Saudi Arabia to seek US military assistance, although Washington has so far limited its response to intelligence and targeting support rather than direct intervention.

Houthi forces took control of Perim Island, also known as Mayun Island, on Friday after government troops withdrew overnight, a Yemeni government official told Xinhua. The island lies at the heart of the Bab al-Mandab Strait and divides the narrow waterway into two shipping channels.

"Houthi naval forces aboard several boats reached Mayun early Friday. They landed on the island and took control without military resistance," the official said, adding that the Houthis now have a "full grip over the Bab al-Mandab area."

The move came a day after Houthi forces captured Mocha, a strategic Red Sea port city in southwestern Yemen, and marked a major expansion of their control along Yemen's western coast.

"After tightening their grip on Bab al-Mandab and key coastal areas and islands in and around the strait, the Houthis are pressing farther south," a Yemeni military official said Friday on condition of anonymity.

Government forces have withdrawn to Khor Omeira in Lahj, about 90 kilometers west of Aden, the temporary seat of Yemen’s internationally recognized government on the southern coast, the official said. The forces are "regrouping with no clear indication of their next move," he added. 

Residents in Khor Omeira reported signs of disarray among the retreating government forces. Some soldiers were reportedly selling their weapons at low prices, while others were discarding their uniforms before heading toward Aden.

In a statement broadcast Friday by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV, Houthi spokesperson Yahya Sarea said the offensive, which began on September 3, had captured about 5,400 square kilometers of territory in western Yemen.

Sarea also claimed that Houthi forces had confronted Saudi warplanes in 32 engagements and "shot down nine aircraft." The claims could not be independently verified.

Addressing concerns over the security of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, Sarea said international maritime traffic remained "safe," while reiterating that Saudi vessels were subject to Houthi restrictions.

The Houthis announced a ban on Saudi shipping on July 20 and have since claimed a series of attacks on Saudi tankers and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.

Bab al-Mandab connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean and is a major route for international trade and energy shipments.

Yemen has been embroiled in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of the country's north. The latest rapid Houthi advance marks the sharpest escalation since a UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely brought major hostilities to a halt.

Li Zixin, a Middle East expert at the China Institute of International Studies, said the latest escalation in Yemen was not accidental but resulted from the interaction between the country's internal political and military divisions and the spillover of the conflict between the US and Iran.

Li said the Houthis were taking advantage of the current US-Iran conflict to expand their influence and move beyond the framework established by the 2022 UN-brokered truce. He noted that Yemen's government forces had failed to effectively integrate competing factions, while the Saudi-led coalition had struggled to exert sufficient pressure on the Houthis without adequate support from ground forces.

The spillover of the US-Iran conflict was also significant, Li said, with Iran increasing its support for the Houthis and enabling them to launch offensives on multiple fronts.

The escalation has placed renewed pressure on Washington to support its regional ally Saudi Arabia.

Two US officials said on Thursday that Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman called US President Donald Trump twice that day to urge Washington to strike the Houthis in Yemen, but Trump declined, according to US media reports.

The officials said the US government currently had no plans for direct intervention against the Houthis. However, CNN reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that more than 100 US military advisers had been deployed to Saudi Arabia to provide intelligence and targeting support for its military operations against the Houthis.

The latest developments highlight a dilemma for Washington: further involvement could help protect a key maritime route and support Saudi Arabia, but could also draw the US deeper into a widening regional conflict.

Several US think tank researchers have said the Trump administration's military action against Iran has challenged a consensus that had emerged in Washington since the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: avoiding large-scale, open-ended wars in the Middle East.

The ongoing conflict with Iran, now lasting more than six months, has raised concerns that Washington could become trapped in a war of attrition without a clear exit strategy.

For the US, Li said, a further escalation around the Red Sea would stretch its military resources in the Middle East even more, as Washington has already deployed substantial forces around the Strait of Hormuz.

He warned that if the Houthi offensive continues, the possibility of a renewed full-scale civil war in Yemen cannot be ruled out.

"The Houthis now control most of northern Yemen as well as key areas along the Red Sea coast," he said. "If the offensive continues, the possibility of a renewed full-scale civil war cannot be ruled out."

At the global level, simultaneous pressure on the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, two critical energy corridors, could have serious implications for global energy security and supply-chain resilience, Li said.

The concern has become more acute because Saudi Arabia has relied increasingly on Red Sea routes as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz amid disruptions caused by the US-Iran conflict.

Saudi Arabia has also temporarily shut down its 1,200-kilometer East-West oil pipeline after a drone attack, according to Saudi officials late Friday. The pipeline can transport up to 5 million barrels of oil per day.

The combination of disruptions around Hormuz, the Houthi advance toward Bab al-Mandab and the pipeline shutdown has intensified fears of a broader squeeze on global energy supplies.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, oil flows through Bab al-Mandab averaged 5.6 million barrels per day in the first quarter of 2026 and rose to 8.1 million barrels per day in the second quarter, accounting for about 8% of global oil supply.

With the waterway now under greater Houthi control, any move to restrict shipping through the strait could further disrupt global energy flows.

Oil prices have already responded sharply. Brent crude rose above $100 a barrel amid growing concerns over disruptions to oil supplies, although prices later eased as markets assessed the scale and duration of the risks.

The latest developments have also raised concerns that disruptions could persist into next year. S&P Global Energy said on September 10 that it no longer expected the fighting to end completely by the end of 2027, nor did it expect the Strait of Hormuz to return to normal by then. The company currently expects international oil prices to remain elevated at $80 to $100 a barrel throughout next year.

If both Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab remain under pressure, the impact could extend beyond oil prices, increasing shipping costs, lengthening transit times and adding to inflationary pressures worldwide.