Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels captured the island of Mayun at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, officials said Friday, opening a new front in the Iran war and threatening Saudi oil exports. Saudi Arabia also struck the nearby port city of Mokha after the Houthis seized it Thursday. The fighting has raised fears for shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and for a fragile truce in Yemen.
This image taken from undated video released by the Ansar Allah Media Office, the media arm of Yemen's Houthi rebels, on Sept. 9, shows a pickup truck burning following what the Houthis described as an attack on Saudi-backed forces in eastern Jawf province, Yemen. Ansar Allah Media Office via AP-Yonhap
CAIRO — Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels captured a strategic island at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, two officials said Friday, opening a new front in the Iran war and further threatening Saudi oil exports through one of the world’s key shipping lanes.
The Houthis’ biggest territorial gains in years, along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait , could boost Iran’s strategy of driving up world oil and gas prices to pressure the United States.
Saudi Arabia struck the airport in the nearby port city of Mokha that the Houthis seized Thursday, a Houthi broadcaster said. There were no reports of damage or deaths.
