Overview
- Houthi fighters have taken control of the Red Sea port city of Mocha and pushed onto nearby islands and coastline positions that overlook the Bab el‑Mandeb shipping lane, sources reporting on the offensive say.
- Multiple Yemeni, regional and Western sources say Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps provided guidance, weapons and advisers for the operation while Tehran publicly denies directing the group.
- Saudi Arabia has launched airstrikes on Houthi-held targets and Yemeni government forces have withdrawn toward Dhubab and Perim as the ground picture shifted, and the UN envoy warned this marks a more dangerous phase of the Yemen war.
- Markets reacted quickly: Brent crude traded above $100 a barrel and ship operators and insurers began rerouting or repricing transits through the Red Sea because control of Bab el‑Mandeb could choke a key route for oil and global trade.
- The offensive has driven new displacement and civilian harm in southern Yemen and spurred regional diplomacy, including Pakistan pressing Iran to restrain the Houthis, with the wider risk that the move could widen the Iran‑U.S. conflict and deepen Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.