Saudi strikes Mokha airport as Houthi advance rattles Red Sea shipping

Saudi airstrikes reportedly hit Mokha airport a day after Houthi forces entered the Red Sea port city. The escalation heightens risks to Bab el-Mandeb shipping and Yemen's fragile truce.

In Short

• Iran urged ending Saudi blockade and resuming negotiations after Mokha developments
• The rebels now stand roughly 80 kilometres from the strategic strait
• About 12 per cent of global goods usually pass through Bab el-Mandeb

Saudi airstrikes hit the rebel-held Mokha airport in Yemen on Friday, a Houthi broadcaster reported, a day after the Iran-backed group entered the key Red Sea port city. The advance brings the Houthis closer to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital shipping route and an important alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.

The development has raised fresh concerns over commercial shipping, oil supplies and the fragile truce in Yemen. It also came as Iran called for an end to Saudi Arabia's blockade of Yemen and, in its first statement since the Houthis entered Mokha, urged a return to negotiations between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.

The Houthis' entry into Mokha on Thursday was their biggest territorial gain in years against their Saudi-backed Yemeni rivals. The move brought them within 80 kilometres of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The rebels have stepped up attacks on Saudi shipping in the strait and the Red Sea since declaring a blockade there in July, and have also targeted oil infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia. The Houthis said this was in response to Saudi Arabia's blockade of Houthi-held parts of Yemen, which has been in place for years.

The capture of Mokha, which overlooks tanker routes out of the Red Sea, could strengthen Iran's strategy of pushing up global oil and gas prices to pressure the United States, experts said. They said the developments in Yemen could also give Tehran more leverage in any talks with Washington. On Wednesday, the spokesperson for Iran's Revolutionary Guard said any negotiated settlement with the US should include Yemen, the first explicit reference to that front.

Any disruption in the Bab el-Mandeb could affect global shipping and crude prices, which have risen again. Saudi Arabia has increasingly depended on the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb to export crude as Iran targets vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. About 12 per cent of the world's goods are usually shipped through the strait. Shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb had fallen by about 60 per cent since the Houthis began attacking some ships there in late 2023 while expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Shipping rose this year as Saudi Arabia looked for alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz, but renewed Houthi threats have "curtailed" that activity, according to Lloyd's List Intelligence.

Saudi Arabia, which said earlier this week that it had always offered "opportunities for negotiation", has also said it has the right to defend itself against the Houthi blockade. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on social media that the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia spoke on Thursday about diplomatic efforts to "restore stability" to the region.

In a statement released on Friday, the National Defence Council of Yemen's Saudi-backed and internationally recognised government strongly condemned the Houthis' renewed attacks on Saudi Arabia. The council said Yemen's government was on the front line of freedom of navigation and called for international support as the Houthis advanced along the Red Sea coast towards the Bab el-Mandeb.

The latest fighting threatens to end the fragile truce that has largely held since 2022 and raises the risk of a return to Yemen's civil war. The conflict, which began after the Houthis seized much of northern and central Yemen in 2014 and Saudi Arabia entered the war the following year, has killed 150,000 people and pushed many others in the Arab world's poorest country towards famine.

In sum, the Houthis' advance into Mokha, the reported Saudi strike on the city's airport and Iran's call for talks have sharpened pressure on a critical shipping route while deepening fears of a wider escalation in Yemen.

With PTI Inputs

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