SS: The Iran-aligned Houthis' capture of the Red Sea port city of Mocha and their reported advance toward the Bab al-Mandab Strait have suddenly given Yemen a new significance in the wider war.

The timing is particularly consequential for Saudi Arabia.

With shipping through Hormuz disrupted, Riyadh has increasingly relied on routes through the Red Sea to move its oil to global markets. Saudi seaborne crude exports through Bab al-Mandab were reportedly eight times higher between March and mid-July than during the same period last year.

Iran-backed Houthi militants seized a strategic island in the Bab al-Mandeb strait and a town along its mainland coast on Friday, taking effective control of one of the world’s most important shipping chokepoints after a rapid offensive.

The Houthis took control of Perim Island, Saudi and Yemeni officials said. The volcanic island sits inside the Bab al-Mandeb and divides the narrow waterway into two shipping channels, giving whoever holds it a powerful position to threaten vessels entering or leaving the Red Sea. The militants also reached the Yemeni ‌town of Dhubab, which sits directly on the strait.

The seizures cap a series of swift Houthi gains. The militants captured the strategic port city of Mokha on Thursday and are pushing along other stretches of Yemen’s Red Sea coast.

The Houthi advance further threatens Saudi oil exports just as Iran is constraining shipments through the Strait of Hormuz on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula. Riyadh has relied on moving crude across the country to Red Sea ports to bypass Hormuz, but escalating Houthi attacks are putting that alternative route under growing pressure.

“The progress made by the Houthis raises the risk of greater disruption to Saudi Arabia’s oil exports,” said Hamad Hussain, an economist at Capital Economics. “The Houthis now appear to be in a better position to strike oil tankers and cause more damage to energy infrastructure on land.”

The Houthi gains also complicate the U.S. campaign against Iran. Control of the Bab al-Mandeb gives an Iranian ally greater ability to threaten a second major maritime chokepoint, raising pressure on Washington to protect Red Sea shipping when U.S. forces are already struggling to end Iran’s hold on the Strait of Hormuz.

The escalating fighting in Yemen, some of the worst the country has seen in years, shows how the war with Iran is spreading instability across the Middle East and raising the risk of further strains on global energy flows after Iran’s disruption of the Strait of Hormuz triggered the biggest oil-supply shock in recent history.

Saudi Arabia’s oil industry is already reeling. The kingdom’s crude oil production fell to its lowest level in more than three decades last month, dropping by 2.3 million barrels a day to 6 million barrels a day in August, the International Energy Agency said in a report Friday. Saudi Arabia produced around 9.4 million barrels a day on average last year.

The Houthis, part of Iran’s network of allied militias across the Middle East, had largely stayed out of the current U.S.-Iran war until July, when a preliminary deal between Washington and Tehran and a separate long-running ceasefire in Yemen both began to fray. The group then declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and began attacking Saudi shipping in the Red Sea.

Yemen’s civil war began after the Houthis swept out of their northern strongholds and seized the Yemeni capital, San’a, in 2014. Saudi Arabia intervened the following year and fought for years to dislodge them. It later scaled back its direct role while continuing to back Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

The conflict ultimately left the country divided, with the Houthis controlling much of the north.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) called President Trump twice Thursday, urging him to launch strikes against the Houthis as the Iran-backed group closed in on a vital Red Sea chokepoint, two U.S. officials told Axios.

Trump declined, and U.S. officials stressed the administration has no plans to intervene directly against the Houthis for now.

Oil prices surged Thursday as the Houthis seized a strategic coastal city in Yemen, pushing them closer to the Bab al-Mandab Strait — a vital artery for global trade and Saudi oil exports.

With Iran already disrupting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, Houthi control of Bab al-Mandab could give Tehran a powerful new point of leverage over the U.S. and its Gulf allies.

The U.S. is concerned about the rapidly escalating fight in Yemen and is stepping up support for Saudi Arabia while trying to avoid direct military involvement.

Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command, traveled to Saudi Arabia on Thursday for urgent coordination meetings, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

The Saudi embassy in Washington and the White House declined to comment.

The Saudi-Houthi confrontation reignited in July after Riyadh prevented an Iranian plane carrying senior Houthi officials home from the funeral of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei from landing in Sanaa.

MBS asked Trump for political backing to strike the Sanaa airport, but made clear Saudi Arabia did not need U.S. military assistance. Trump gave him his support.

The Houthis retaliated by attacking Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, threatening a crucial route for the kingdom's oil exports, and later expanded their attacks to Saudi energy facilities.

Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni allies responded with airstrikes and ground offensives against Houthi positions.

Saudi Arabia's request for direct U.S. military action marks a sharp reversal from July, when Riyadh told Washington it could handle the Houthis on its own.

As the fighting intensified, however, the Saudis began seeking increasing levels of U.S. support.

U.S. military and civilian officials have told their Saudi counterparts in recent weeks that Trump's directive is to keep American forces focused on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz — and avoid opening another front, sources familiar with the discussions said.

On Thursday, as Houthi forces advanced on the coastal city of Mokha and Saudi-backed Yemeni forces retreated, MBS called Trump to brief him on the deteriorating situation, U.S. officials said.

Several hours later, MBS called again and urged Trump to order U.S. strikes against the Houthis.

Trump declined, but a U.S. official said the administration will provide Saudi Arabia with intelligence on the Houthis and targeting data.

Roughly 200 U.S. military personnel are already in Saudi Arabia providing non-kinetic support, the official said.

A senior Trump administration official signaled that Washington's priority is keeping the Red Sea open while leaving the broader fight to its regional partners.

"The United States is focused on protecting our core national security interests — such as ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea — while empowering our regional partners to take the lead in managing and resolving regional security challenges," the official said.

"We are in continuous dialogue with Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Yemen Government regarding regional stability."

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