Iran-backed Houthis seize Red Sea port, putting another key trade route at risk – POLITICO

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the Red Sea port of Mokha and captured the nearby Perim island on Friday, tightening their grip around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait while the U.S.-Iran war chokes another of the world’s critical shipping routes at Hormuz.

The swift advance marks the Houthis’ biggest territorial expansion in years. According to reports from the Associated Press, fighters swept south along Yemen’s western coast as Saudi-backed government forces withdrew, prompting Saudi airstrikes on Mokha airport.

That surge puts the Houthis in a strong position around Bab al-Mandeb, the narrow southern gateway to the Red Sea and Suez Canal through which roughly 10 to 12 percent of global trade passes.