Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi terror group on Friday reached the strategic island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, four Yemeni government sources told Reuters, potentially tightening their grip on one of the world’s vital shipping routes and further increasing the threat to energy markets in the widening Middle East war.
Earlier, two sources from the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized Yemeni government said its forces had withdrawn from Perim and that the Houthis had also taken the mainland Red Sea coastal town of Dhubab, which faces the island.
If the Houthis gain full control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz, it could give their backer Iran a critical advantage in the war with the US, reducing supplies through a second major transit corridor and sending oil prices surging.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, has relied on the Red Sea route since the Iran conflict effectively closed Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil used to flow.
This comes a day after two military sources told Reuters that the Iranian-backed Yemeni Houthi terror group reached the Red Sea islands of Hanish.
Yemeni government forces plot counter-offensive
Yemeni government forces, meanwhile, 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.
Arab media outlets first reported that Yemeni government forces had withdrawn from Mocha on Thursday morning as the Houthis advanced, and online social media posts displayed photos and videos of Houthi fighters within the city.
The capture of Mocha represents a significant achievement for the Houthis, enabling them to deepen their control over the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab.
عاجل وكارثة على الشرعية:
مدينة الخوخة على ساحل البحر، على وشك السقوط بيد الحوثيين إن لم تكن قد سقطت بالفعل
يظهر فيديو انسحاب قوات الشرعية باتجاه المخا والفيديو الاخر تواجد الحوثيين في الخوخة pic.twitter.com/F7u63ROjhH
— الأحداث العالمية (@A7dath_77) September 10, 2026
Anti-Houthi forces claim contingent sent to reinforce Mocha, reported clashes with Houthi navy
However, the National Resistance Front, a coalition of anti-Houthi forces led by former Houthi ally and senior member of the Yemeni government, Tareq Saleh, said that a force commander led a military contingent into Mocha on Thursday morning.
“Force reorganization and consolidation [of Mocha’s defenses] are underway in coordination with the anti-Houthi coalition,” NRF’s official media outlet reported.
The NRF forces clashed with Houthi naval forces, the outlet added.
Houthis claim ‘Red Sea operations are defensive’
Houthi spokesperson, Mohammed Abdulsalam, said later on Thursday that navigation and international trade in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb remained safe and regular, as fighting with Saudi-backed government forces intensified.
In a post on X, Abdulsalam said Yemen posed no threat to shipping and that ongoing Houthi operations were defensive and limited to previously announced targets. He stated that the operations would end once attacks on Yemen stopped and a blockade was lifted.
