Yemen’s Houthis Reach Strategic Island in Key Shipping Route - Time Magazine

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have reportedly captured the strategic Perim Island that sits in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as they aim to tighten their grip on the critical maritime chokepoint.

The Houthis took Perim on Friday, four Yemeni government sources told Reuters. The capture was also relayed to the Associated Press by a senior military official with Yemen’s internationally recognized government. The reports come a day after the Houthis captured Yemen’s port city of Mokha from Saudi-backed government forces.

Perim Island divides the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital trade route situated between Yemen and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa, that links Asia and Europe via the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Its capture would risk a grave escalation in the widening regional conflict. If the Houthis were to assume control of the Bab el-Mandeb, it could give Iran an advantage in its war with the U.S. The active hostilities between Washington and Tehran are largely focused on another critical trade route, the Strait of Hormuz.

In a statement shared Friday, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea declared the “success” of a military operation launched on Sept. 3 that intended to expel "Saudi-backed forces" along the western coast of Yemen. He went on to assert that “maritime navigation is safe for all companies, with the exception of Saudi ships.” The statement made no mention of Perim Island.

The escalation comes after weeks of fighting between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government of Yemen, shattering a four-year informal cease-fire in the country's civil war.

Yemen’s government on Thursday reportedly launched airstrikes west of Taiz in response to the capture of Mokha and warned civilians to avoid roads between Taiz and Mokha. Houthi-owned Al-Masirah TV reported that Saudi-backed forces launched 40 airstrikes on the provinces of Taiz, Jawf, Hodeida, and Marib.

Observers and Yemeni residents fear the escalating fighting could renew an all-out civil war in Yemen.

“This renewed war should alarm us all,” Hans Grundberg, the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, said at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Thursday. “It effectively marks the end of the relative calm that Yemen has experienced for over four years since the U.N.-brokered truce.”

Capturing the southwestern port and Perim—also known as Mayun—would significantly strengthen the Houthis’ ability to threaten shipping via the Bab el-Mandeb, a waterway through which 8.1 million oil barrels a day passed during the second quarter of 2026, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The Houthis previously disrupted shipping in 2024, in response to Israel’s occupation and bombardment of Gaza, and made a global impact. The move prompted the U.S. and U.K. to carry out strikes against Houthi rebel targets.

The Bab el-Mandeb has become even more important since Iran militarized the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the U.S. and Israel’s Feb. 28 strikes.

Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer of defense studies at King’s College London, tells TIME that any Houthi takeover of these Red Sea areas would be “hugely significant" for the wider region.

In the 2024 disruption, the Houthis “were striking shipping from further inland, now they're controlling the coastline, very close to shipping, particularly Perim Island,” he says.

Perim offers a “vantage point from which the Houthis can operate with far less sophisticated technology, drones, and missiles in order to strike shipping,” Krieg says, adding that “they could even use small skiffs in a sort piracy fashion to harass shipping.”

The Houthis reportedly received direct guidance and weapons from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Iran reportedly told the Houthis last week to escalate their attacks on Saudi Arabia.

Iran publicly maintains that the Houthis are “not a proxy.” The country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that the conflict in Yemen must be resolved through dialogue instead of military action.

Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref on Friday said that Tehran was “delighted by the victories of the heroic Yemeni nation” and put a call to unity “around the banner of Islam.”

Krieg explains how the Houthis may want to keep their targets solely on Saudi shipping in order to not draw out an international coordinated maritime response.

“They could widen the conflict to not just Saudi shipping, but any shipping going through the Bab el-Mandeb. But it would be an own-goal for the Houthis, because you're then giving the international community a mandate to basically support the Saudis,” he says.

Axios reported Friday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had called Trump twice the previous day to request that he launch strikes against the Houthis—a request Trump is said to have declined.

"The United States is focused on protecting our core national security interests—such as ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea—while empowering our regional partners to take the lead in managing and resolving regional security challenges,” a senior Administration official told TIME when asked about the reports. “We are in continuous dialogue with Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Yemen Government regarding regional stability."

The Houthis’ advance comes as Tehran has sought new ways to counter Washington’s economic pressure campaign and military attacks. A stronger Houthi position along the Red Sea coast could further constrain global energy supplies, raise shipping and insurance costs, and push up oil prices. Even if the Houthis are acting in their own interest, Iran could gain significant leverage over Washington in conjunction with continued pressure on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

The capture of Mokha came hours after President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that Iran’s government was prolonging the war in an attempt to affect Republican prospects in the U.S. midterm elections in November. He nevertheless insisted Iran is on the verge of collapse and that the war will end “immediately after” the vote. 

The Houthis are “not necessarily doing the bidding of the Iranians; they're doing what is in their interests. Nobody really controls the Houthis,” says Krieg, but this escalation very well could benefit Tehran in negotiations.

“Ultimately this gives, even by extension or by proxy, the Iranians another part to play if they feel their terms are not being met, or if they feel that they need to dial up the pressure,” Krieg concludes. 

From Mokha, which lies around 80 km north of Bab el-Mandeb, and Perim Island, which sits directly in the waterway around 26 km from shore, the Houthis would have a stronger position to disrupt shipping, particularly targeting vessels travelling to and from Saudi Arabia, which is the world’s biggest crude exporter and a close U.S. ally.

Saudi Arabia has routed more oil to its Red Sea port of Yanbu after the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. But the Houthis declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia on July 20 and began attacking Saudi shipping and energy infrastructure. Saudi crude exports have reportedly fallen to their lowest level in 13 years, with production dropping 23% from July to August. Overall vessel traffic through Bab el-Mandeb fell around 24% in the week following the July blockade.

The kingdom has responded with airstrikes in Yemen’s north and warned Iran to rein in the group. It has supplied its Yemeni allies with arms, intelligence, and logistical assistance. 

Experts tell TIME that whilst the Houthis have shown their “intent and capability" to strike shipping, the tightening of their grip on the Bab el-Mandeb is sufficient to rattle energy markets and supply chains.

“This just adds another layer of uncertainty, very likely increasing the insurance payments, and that will increase shipping costs,” says Krieg, which would make it “very problematic for global energy trade.”

The advance could also force the U.S. to devote military resources towards protecting a second maritime chokepoint and assisting its ally, potentially complicating efforts to limit or swiftly end U.S. involvement in the Middle East.