Houthis take Mokha and press into the Bab al-Mandeb islands as Riyadh’s Red Sea route narrows

Houthi forces moved down Yemen’s west coast and took the Red Sea port of Mokha on 10 September, along with islands in the Hanish chain north of Bab al-Mandeb, according to a special report by the maritime intelligence firm Windward. The Associated Press, carried by NPR, attributed the port’s fall to both Houthi and Yemeni officials — the strongest confirmation available — and put Mokha about 50 miles from the strait. Mokha had been held by the National Resistance Forces loyal to Tariq Saleh. The claim that matters most is weaker: AP reported the capture of Perim Island, which sits mid-strait where the channel is roughly 20 kilometres across, on the word of a single senior Yemeni government military official, and CNBC hedged it as a reported seizure. Euronews said Zuqar, the largest of the three main archipelago islands, fell after rocket attacks and a ground assault.

Euronews also cited unnamed government military sources saying more than 2,000 government troops are besieged on the Hanish islands, that commanders are unsure of their soldiers' status, and that they believe the Houthis have ordered a surrender — an anonymous account from the losing side about its own losses. A Houthi broadcaster said Saudi Arabia struck Mokha airport after the seizure, with no reports of damage or deaths; the coalition has not confirmed it. The economic geography is the point. Bloomberg noted on 10 September that Saudi Arabia shifted more of its oil exports to the Red Sea route in July, and Houthi forces have struck vessels near Bab al-Mandeb periodically since late 2023. On 8 September, coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said Houthi attacks on Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jizan and Najran wounded at least 73 people.

Assessment: Treat the port and the islands as two different stories. Mokha is an event; Perim is so far a claim, and it is a claim that serves the Yemeni government, which needs Washington to see a strait about to close. CNBC, relaying MS NOW, reports Mohammed bin Salman personally pressed Donald Trump for US military intervention — second-hand, single-sourced, with nothing on the record from Riyadh or the White House. The verification to watch is not a communiqué but war-risk premiums and southbound transit counts. The Security Council met on Yemen on 10 September; whether it adopted anything is a different story from whether it convened.