Iran-backed proxies in Yemen captured strategic locations along the Red Sea on Thursday, potentially expanding Tehran’s influence over another key Middle Eastern waterway.
On Thursday, the Houthi fighters captured the town of Mocha, a crucial coastal location some 50 miles to the north of Perim, the information minister of the internationally recognized government told CNN. The news sent shockwaves across the world over the potential impact on global shipping.
A gateway to the route between Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal, Bab al-Mandeb is a geopolitical chokepoint similar to the Strait of Hormuz linking Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal. While it is less critical to global trade than Hormuz, it still carries essential goods worldwide, including millions of barrels of oil every day.
The development coincides with a wider regional escalation of the war between Iran and the United States, after Tehran warned this week that it would step up hostilities against the US, which maintains a stringent naval blockade of Iran and continues to launch military strikes on the country.
After years of stalemate, fighting between Saudi-backed forces and Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen flared up again over the past month as a result of tensions caused by the wider regional conflict between Iran and the US.
