Houthis capture Red Sea port in blow to Saudis
Rebels overrun historic Yemeni port of Mocha as they advance south towards strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait
Andrew England in London Published FT 10-09-26
Iran-backed Houthi rebels have seized the Yemeni Red Sea port of Mocha as they advance south towards the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a vital waterway for international maritime trade.
The capture of Mocha deals a significant blow to Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni forces it backs, and is a boost to Iran as it seeks to maintain pressure on global energy prices.
Brent, the international benchmark for crude, rose to $105 a barrel after the Houthis took control of the historic port — once a vital hub for European and Middle Eastern coffee traders — on Thursday after driving out forces aligned to the Yemeni government.
The rebel breakthrough comes after days of fierce fighting that has reignited a more than decade-long civil war.
The Bab al-Mandeb has become a vital route for Saudi oil exports since Iran throttled shipping through the Strait of Hormuz after the US and Israel launched their war against the Islamic republic.
The Houthis declared a blockade on Saudi ports in July, attacking Saudi tankers and disrupting shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
Now, the Houthis’ expanding control of the Red Sea coastline means their forces are just 50km from the strait, enabling them to launch more precise attacks on shipping in the area, according to Ahmed Nagi, Yemen analyst at Crisis Group.
“The Houthis have been preparing for this battle for a long time. For them, the coastline is the most strategic frontline,” Nagi said. “They believe if they can take over the coast it will mean they will impose their demands on the Saudis, and they will provide good support to their backer, Iran.”
The latest fighting comes after the Houthis stepped up their attacks on Saudi Arabia, launching a wave of missile and drone strikes in the early hours of Tuesday, damaging some energy facilities in southern cities in the kingdom and targeting an air base.
The Saudi energy ministry did not identify which sites were hit or the scale of the damage.
But Major General Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for a Saudi-led coalition that intervened in Yemen’s civil war more than a decade ago, said on Tuesday that 73 civilians were wounded in attacks on “civilian and economic sites” in the southern Saudi cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jizan and Najran.
A day later, he said the Houthis launched more attacks on Khamis Mushait, which hosts a Saudi air base, as well as Abha and Jizan, home to significant energy infrastructure, including a 400,000-barrel-a-day oil refinery — among the country’s largest.
The Houthis, who have received arms and technical support from Iran and control much of Yemen’s populous north, have accused Saudi Arabia of launching more than 120 air strikes on rebel-controlled provinces in Yemen since the weekend.
Saudi-backed Yemeni forces opposed to the Houthis had sought to launch their own counteroffensive and advance on Hodeidah, the main Red Sea port controlled by the rebels.
The fighting has shattered a 2022 ceasefire between the parties that had paused the civil war that erupted 12 years ago.
Saudi Arabia, which is the main backer of the internationally recognised government in Aden, intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015, leading an Arab coalition against the Houthis after they seized Sana’a, the Yemeni capital.
The parties agreed to a truce after seven years of war, which came at huge cost to the Saudi government and Yemen’s civilian population.
Farea al-Muslimi, analyst at Chatham House, said the loss of Mocha was a “huge setback” for the Yemeni forces, which include myriad factions that often have competing agendas, backed by Saudi Arabia.
“Now you have Iran in control of two of the most important straits in the world, not just the region,” al-Muslimi said. “It’s a very good example of the incredible ignorance of the Houthis’ capabilities and the constant underestimation of the group since 2014.”
