The Houthis had seized Mayyun Island, also known as Perim Island. The takeover effectively gave the Houthis control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait area. Reuters reported that forces belonging to Yemen's internationally recognized government had withdrawn from the island.
Mayyun lies in the middle of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, meaning that, according to the report, the Houthis have captured a position dozens of kilometers from their previous southern front line in the city of Mocha. The Houthis were also reported to have taken control of Dhubab, a Red Sea coastal town near Bab al-Mandab.
In addition, Yemeni sources told the Saudi-owned Al Hadath channel that two strikes had targeted gatherings of Houthi forces near Mocha airport.
US Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper traveled to Saudi Arabia for urgent talks on the Houthi advance in Yemen, Axios reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
Despite advances and military gains in the northeastern province of al-Jawf and in Marib, forces loyal to Yemen's internationally recognized government suffered a significant defeat over the past 24 hours. After holding back the Iran-backed terrorist organization for more than a week, government forces saw the Houthis break through defensive lines along the coast and seize the strategic port city of Mocha.
Gen. Tareq Saleh acknowledged that government forces had suffered deaths and injuries in heavy fighting and had been forced to establish a new command center south of Mocha. At the same time, Arab media reported a series of airstrikes against Houthi positions in Hodeidah province.
The Houthis also took control of the Hanish Islands in the Red Sea, located off the stretch of coastline between Hodeidah and Mocha. On the face of it, the gains could give the organization significantly greater ability to disrupt international freedom of navigation.
The Houthis are now positioned near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, having advanced roughly 75 kilometers (47 miles) from Mocha. Officials in Yemen have warned that the organization is seeking to replicate Iran's stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz and inflict damage on the global economy.
Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, which heads the internationally recognized government, said the "Houthi terrorist militias" were escalating their operations on all fronts, particularly along the western coast, with the involvement of experts linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Al-Alimi said Iran was seeking to strengthen the Houthis so that they could gain influence over the Bab al-Mandab Strait, allowing Tehran to shift the cost of regional and international pressure on Iran onto others.
He also warned that any attempt to change the military situation around Bab al-Mandab could not be treated as a purely Yemeni matter, because it would have consequences for the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and global trade. Defending Yemen's coastline, he said, was a shared Yemeni, Egyptian, Arab and international interest.
Against the backdrop of those warnings, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam sought to claim that international shipping and trade in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait would "remain safe." That claim is highly questionable. Abdulsalam said Houthi operations would end once what the group calls the "blockade of Yemen" was lifted, including operations against Saudi vessels.
The Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in July, claiming that Riyadh was preventing Iranian aircraft from landing in Yemen. The move triggered an escalation between the Houthis on one side and Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Saudi-backed internationally recognized government on the other.
