Yemen envoy warns of wider war as Houthis threaten Bab al-Mandeb Strait

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Yemen’s ambassador warns Houthi attacks threaten a global shipping crisis.

Yemen ambassador warns of wider war as Houthi attacks disrupt Red Sea

The war in Yemen is threatening to open a new front as the Iran-allied Houthi rebels are trying to advance along the Red Sea coast, through the mountain chains of Taiz province, edging closer to strategic ground that overlooks one of the world’s most vital maritime arteries.

For the internationally recognised Yemeni government, this is an offensive with global consequences .

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In Wednesday’s interview with Al Jazeera, Yemen’s Ambassador to Qatar, Rajeh Badi, a former government spokesman, said that his government and its armed forces had not violated any truce since 2021.

The Houthis, he argued, are “the aggressors”. “What we are seeing now is a surprise Houthi offensive to seize strategic ground along the Red Sea, in order to allow Iran, through its Houthi proxy, to tighten its grip on maritime routes,” Badi said.

He added that the Houthis, who have advanced on al-Makha (Mocha) and al-Waziyah, and over large stretches of the mountain chain overlooking the Red Sea in Taiz province , “want commanding positions to launch more effective strikes on ships and disrupt navigation in the Red Sea”.

Badi said the Yemeni government responded by opening fronts in al-Jawf, Marib and al-Bayda, and that the consequences could extend far beyond Yemen.

“We are now facing a real threat that does not stop at Yemen’s borders,” he said. “It threatens the entire region and the world. If the Houthis manage to choke maritime traffic in the Red Sea, we will be looking at another Hormuz in these waters – with potentially even greater impact.”

The Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb “represent a vital artery for global shipping, for both energy and food supplies”, he added.

A chokepoint that belongs to the world

Bab al-Mandeb connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. To the north, the Red Sea leads to the Suez Canal, while farther east, beyond the Arabian Sea, lies another critical chokepoint, the Strait of Hormuz. This geography is what gives Yemen’s conflict consequences far beyond its borders, as Saudi Arabia is already being drawn into the confrontation.

The Houthis have targeted Saudi territory, civilian infrastructure in the kingdom’s south and Saudi-linked vessels in the Red Sea.

Major-General Turki al-Maliki, spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, said the Houthis on Wednesday attacked Saudi cities of Khamis Mushait, Abha, and Jizan with ballistic missiles and drones. He did not elaborate on any casualties as a result of the attacks.

Badi, who has spoken to the media for the first time since taking up his post, said those attacks are designed to change the nature of the war.

“By targeting Saudi territory, civilian infrastructure in the kingdom’s south, and Saudi-linked vessels in the Red Sea, the Houthis are trying to drag Saudi Arabia into their war. Their calculation is simple: they want to rebrand this conflict as a Saudi-Yemeni war,” he said.

The ambassador assessed that “every time their militias suffer heavy losses inside Yemen at the hands of the Yemeni armed forces, they respond by firing missiles and drones at civilian sites in Saudi Arabia, in an attempt to inflame Yemeni public opinion and convince the outside world that Yemen is at war with Saudi Arabia”.

The conflict, he said, is fundamentally about Yemen’s state and its future. The Yemeni people are fighting to “reclaim their state, their republic, their dignity and their stability”.

Footage released by Houthi media claims to show attacks on Saudi-coalition forces on the front lines in al-Jawf province on September 9, 2026 [AFP]

Behind Yemen’s fragmented front lines, a larger regional confrontation looms, and its architect, according to Badi, is Iran.

The official said that Tehran’s relationship with the Houthis is now impossible to hide. “Iranian officials openly boast about it, and Houthi leaders proudly talk about their ‘strategic’ ties with Tehran,” he said.

The Houthis are “one of Iran’s key regional arms – just like Hezbollah in Lebanon or the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) in Iraq. Many of Tehran’s other proxies have come under pressure,” he added.

“Former Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi used to say that if Iran gains control over Bab al-Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz, it will not need a nuclear weapon – its grip over these two chokepoints would be more powerful than any nuclear arsenal. Events have proved him right,” Badi recalled.

‘We have exhausted all peaceful avenues’

For Yemen’s government, the alternative to another war was supposed to be diplomacy.

Badi urged the world “to stand with us so we can rid ourselves of this scourge – a threat that no longer targets Yemenis alone”.

“We have exhausted all peaceful avenues. For more than 13 years, we have been engaging in dialogue rounds and signing agreements, whether inside Yemen or after the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa,” he said.

Badi added that the Houthi rebels have effectively “buried peaceful options. Peace is simply not part of this movement’s culture or mindset. That is what ultimately forced us to take up arms”.

“The world must understand this difficult equation,” the ambassador concluded, that the Houthis are “an armed proxy, an extension of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Houthis do not represent us”.

也门大使在接受半岛电视台采访时警告说，胡塞武装的袭击威胁着全球航运危机。

也门大使警告称，胡塞武装袭击扰乱红海，可能导致更大规模的战争。

也门战争有可能开辟新的战线，伊朗支持的胡塞武装正试图沿着红海沿岸，穿过塔伊兹省的山脉，逐步逼近俯瞰世界上最重要的海上交通要道之一的战略要地。

对于国际社会承认的也门政府而言，这是一场具有全球影响的进攻。

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也门沙特支持的部队袭击西海岸胡塞武装（列表 2/3）

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也门驻卡塔尔大使、前政府发言人拉杰·巴迪周三在接受半岛电视台采访时表示，也门政府及其武装部队自 2021 年以来没有违反任何停火协议。

他认为，胡塞武装才是“侵略者”。巴迪说：“我们现在看到的是胡塞武装发动的一场出人意料的攻势，目的是夺取红海沿岸的战略要地，以便伊朗通过其胡塞代理人加强对海上航线的控制。”

他还补充说，胡塞武装已经推进到摩卡和瓦齐亚，并占领了塔伊兹省俯瞰红海的大片山脉，“他们想要占据有利位置，以便对船只发动更有效的袭击，并扰乱红海的航行”。

巴迪表示，也门政府的回应是在焦夫、马里卜和贝达开辟战线，其后果可能远远超出也门。

他说：“我们现在面临的真正威胁并不止于也门国界，它威胁着整个地区乃至全世界。如果胡塞武装成功封锁红海的海上交通，我们将看到这片海域再次出现霍尔木兹海峡事件——而且其影响可能更大。”

他补充说，红海和曼德海峡“是全球航运、能源和粮食供应的重要动脉”。

属于世界的咽喉要道

曼德海峡连接红海和亚丁湾。向北，红海通往苏伊士运河；再往东，越过阿拉伯海，便是另一个重要的咽喉要道——霍尔木兹海峡。正是这种地理位置，使得也门冲突的影响远远超出其国界，沙特阿拉伯也已被卷入这场冲突。

胡塞武装袭击了沙特领土、沙特南部的民用基础设施以及红海中与沙特有关的船只。

沙特领导的也门联军发言人图尔基·马利基少将表示，胡塞武装周三使用弹道导弹和无人机袭击了沙特的哈米斯穆沙伊特、艾卜哈和吉赞三座城市。他没有透露袭击造成的伤亡情况。

巴迪上任以来首次接受媒体采访时表示，这些袭击旨在改变战争的性质。

他说：“胡塞武装通过袭击沙特领土、沙特南部地区的民用基础设施以及红海中与沙特有关的船只，试图将沙特阿拉伯拖入他们的战争。他们的算计很简单：他们想把这场冲突重新定义为沙特与也门之间的战争。”

大使评估道：“每当他们的民兵在也门境内被也门武装部队重创时，他们就会向沙特阿拉伯的平民目标发射导弹和无人机，试图煽动也门公众舆论，并让外界相信也门正在与沙特阿拉伯交战。”

他说，这场冲突的根本在于也门的国家及其未来。也门人民正在为“夺回他们的国家、他们的共和国、他们的尊严和他们的稳定”而战。

胡塞武装媒体发布的视频声称显示，2026年9月9日，胡塞武装在焦夫省前线袭击了沙特联军部队。[法新社]

巴迪认为，在也门支离破碎的前线背后，一场更大的地区冲突正在酝酿，而这场冲突的始作俑者正是伊朗。

这位官员表示，德黑兰与胡塞武装的关系现在已经无法掩盖。“伊朗官员公开吹嘘这一点，胡塞武装领导人也自豪地谈论他们与德黑兰的‘战略’联系，”他说。

他补充说：“胡塞武装是伊朗在该地区的重要力量之一，就像黎巴嫩的真主党或伊拉克的民众动员部队一样。德黑兰的许多其他代理人都面临压力。”

巴迪回忆道：“也门前总统阿卜杜拉布·曼苏尔·哈迪曾说过，如果伊朗控制了曼德海峡和霍尔木兹海峡，它就不需要核武器——它对这两个咽喉要道的控制力将比任何核武库都更强大。事实证明他是对的。”

“我们已经用尽了所有和平途径。”

对也门政府而言，避免再次开战的替代方案原本应该是外交手段。

巴迪呼吁世界“与我们站在一起，以便我们能够摆脱这一祸患——这一威胁不再仅仅针对也门人”。

他说：“我们已经用尽了所有和平途径。13 年多来，我们一直在进行多轮对话并签署协议，无论是在也门境内还是在胡塞武装占领首都萨那之后。”

巴迪补充说，胡塞武装实际上已经“扼杀了和平选项。和平根本不属于这个运动的文化或思维模式。这最终迫使我们拿起武器”。

大使总结道：“世界必须理解这个复杂的等式，胡塞武装是伊朗革命卫队的武装代理人，是其延伸。胡塞武装并不代表我们。”