Houthis seize port city in offensive aimed toward Bab el-Mandeb Strait

The Houthis seized a strategic Yemeni port city on Thursday, bringing the Iranian-backed militant group closer to controlling a key stretch of the Red Sea coast and threatening a critical trade and energy route.The port city of Mokha, a historic coffee-trading hub that gave its name to the popular coffee drink “mocha,” came after days of intense fighting with Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces in a conflict that has escalated since early July, according to Yemeni and Saudi officials.Saudi and Yemeni officials said the Houthis are nearing control of much of Yemen’s coastline along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a narrow waterway connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. The strait is the primary maritime gateway into the Red Sea from the Indian Ocean and, through the Suez Canal, connects the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. About 4.2 million barrels of oil and petroleum products passed through the Bab el-Mandeb each day during the first half of 2025, according to the Energy Information Administration. The Houthis began attacking commercial vessels transiting the strait in November 2023 following Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.Source: European Council on Foreign Relations; Graphic by Grace Hagerman/Washington Examiner The seizure of Mokha gives the Houthis control of a major resupply hub for government forces and could allow them to sever supply lines to forces farther south, officials said.Saudi Arabia has sought to keep crude oil flowing to international markets by transporting oil across the country by pipeline to ports on the Red Sea, providing an alternative to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which has become a chokepoint during the war with Iran and sent energy prices soaring around the world. But that workaround has still remained vulnerable to Houthi attacks.GERMAN RIGHT-WING PARTY SET FOR STRONG WIN IN REGIONAL ELECTION BUT UNCERTAIN OF GOVERNINGEarlier this week, the Houthis launched a large missile-and-drone attack against Saudi Arabia’s southern energy facilities and a military base, wounding dozens of people.The Houthis are part of a network of Middle Eastern militant groups that receive weapons and training from Iran. The group has grown increasingly close to Iran in recent years but is considered more independent of Tehran than other Iranian-backed groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has played a key part in Iran’s war with the United States and Israel.