Iran-backed rebels capture Red Sea port, tightening grip on a key global chokepoint

Gallo Images/Getty Images/File

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.

The Red Sea became a focal point as Iran sought ways to pressure the global economy and extract more concessions from Washington.

Mohammed Huwais/AFP/Getty Images

Last month, Tehran’s proxies in Yemen, the Houthis, intensified an offensive to seize the port city of Mocha from Saudi-backed forces. A few weeks ago, more than 25 Houthi rockets slammed into the sprawling harbor as commercial ships were unloading, according to port director Abdel Malek Al-Sharaabi.

Until Thursday morning, the city was under the control of the National Resistance Forces, a Saudi-backed group commanded by Tarik Saleh, a vice president in Yemen’s beleaguered internationally recognized government. The Houthis later claimed to have captured it, and reports began emerging that the group is advancing on other cities in a bid to seize the entire coastline.

In an exclusive interview with CNN earlier this month, Saleh warned that if the Houthis seized Perim Island – an island lying directly on the Bab al-Mandeb chokepoint – they could gain control of the strait itself. Dislodging them would require “a massive (international) force and the navies,” he said.

The Houthi offensive to capture key strategic locations along the western coast overlooking the Red Sea achieves two key objectives for the rebels, according to one expert.

“They are in a good position to increase their influence around Bab Al-Mandeb…and they can now protect themselves from any ground operations that can come from this area,” Ahmed Nagi, a senior analyst for Yemen with the International Crisis Group, told CNN.

Despite the stalemate that has followed the 2022 truce between the Houthis and Saudi-backed forces, tensions had been simmering between the Yemeni factions for months amid severe economic and humanitarian hardship. In July they reached boiling point when the Houthis allowed an Iranian plane – expected to carry a Houthi delegation to the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – to land in the capital, Sanaa.

The move directly challenged Saudi-imposed control over Yemeni airspace and prompted retaliation from the kingdom, which ordered strikes on Houthi-controlled runways at Sanaa airport, breaking years of truce.

The Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of imposing a blockade and responded by blockading Saudi ships, firing on vessels transiting waters near Yemen, and attacking oil facilities in the kingdom.

The strikes also allowed Iran to increase pressure on Saudi Arabia, a US ally that hosts American troops and bases that Tehran says were used to target it.

The capture of Mocha could give a group trained and aided by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards greater influence in the Red Sea while expanding its control over more territory in Yemen – although experts note that the front lines keep changing.

Beyond its geopolitical impact, the development risks worsening Yemen’s humanitarian crisis, already designated by the United Nations as one of the world’s worst.

Exclusive: This small island off Yemen is now a strategic prize in the widening Iran war

An effective Houthi blockade of Bab al-Mandeb would open a new front in the war with Iran and could require US military intervention, potentially weakening Washington’s ability to keep ships moving through Hormuz. It could also prevent Saudi Arabia from shipping diesel to Europe at a critical moment for the fuel market.

The move also adds further volatility to oil markets, already under pressure from the very low number of vessels transiting Hormuz. Oil prices jumped 4% on Thursday, with global benchmark Brent crude hitting $105, as news broke of the Houthis gaining ground along the Red Sea.

Despite the concern, several Houthis officials have signaled that the advancement does not constitute a concern for international maritime shipping.

“The question now is how the Saudi-led coalition will react,” Nagi of the Crisis Group said. “This is not the end of the battle, we will probably see more developments in the coming days.”

Gallo Images/Getty Images/文件

周四，伊朗支持的也门代理人占领了红海沿岸的战略要地，这可能扩大德黑兰对另一条中东重要水道的影响力。

周四，胡塞武装攻占了摩卡镇，该镇位于佩里姆以北约50英里处，是一个重要的沿海要塞。国际社会承认的胡塞武装政府新闻部长向美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）证实了这一消息。这一消息震惊了世界，人们担忧其可能对全球航运造成影响。

曼德海峡是连接亚洲和欧洲（经由苏伊士运河）的门户，其地缘政治重要性堪比连接亚洲和欧洲的霍尔木兹海峡。虽然它对全球贸易的重要性不及霍尔木兹海峡，但每天仍有数百万桶石油等重要物资通过它运往世界各地。

这一事态发展恰逢伊朗与美国之间的地区战争进一步升级。此前，德黑兰本周警告称，将加大对美国的敌对行动力度。美国对伊朗实施严格的海上封锁，并继续对伊朗发动军事打击。

在经历了多年的僵持之后，由于伊朗和美国之间更广泛的地区冲突造成的紧张局势，沙特支持的部队和伊朗支持的胡塞武装在也门的战斗在过去一个月里再次爆发。

红海成为伊朗寻求向全球经济施压并从华盛顿获取更多让步的焦点。

Mohammed Huwais/法新社/盖蒂图片社

上个月，伊朗在也门的代理人胡塞武装加大了攻势，试图从沙特支持的部队手中夺取港口城市摩卡。据港口主管阿卜杜勒·马利克·沙拉比称，几周前，在商船卸货时，超过25枚胡塞武装发射的火箭弹袭击了这座庞大的港口。

直到周四上午，这座城市一直由沙特支持的全国抵抗力量控制，该组织由也门处境艰难、国际公认的政府副总统塔里克·萨利赫指挥。胡塞武装随后声称占领了这座城市，并开始有报道称，该组织正在向其他城市推进，企图控制整个海岸线。

本月初，萨利赫在接受CNN独家专访时警告说，如果胡塞武装占领佩里姆岛——该岛位于曼德海峡咽喉要道上——他们就能控制整个海峡。他表示，要将他们驱逐出去，需要“一支庞大的（国际）部队和各国海军”。

一位专家表示，胡塞武装为夺取俯瞰红海的西海岸关键战略要地而发起的攻势，实现了叛军的两个关键目标。

“他们现在处于有利地位，可以扩大其在曼德海峡周边的影响力……而且他们现在可以保护自己免受来自该地区的任何地面行动的影响，”国际危机组织也门问题高级分析师艾哈迈德·纳吉告诉 CNN。

尽管胡塞武装与沙特支持的部队在2022年达成停火协议后陷入僵局，但在也门严峻的经济和人道主义困境下，各派系之间的紧张关系已持续数月。7月，胡塞武装允许一架伊朗飞机降落在首都萨那，导致紧张局势达到白热化。这架飞机原本计划搭载胡塞武装代表团前往参加最高领袖阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊的葬礼。

此举直接挑战了沙特阿拉伯对也门领空的控制，并引发了沙特的报复，沙特下令空袭胡塞武装控制的萨那机场跑道，打破了多年的停火协议。

胡塞武装指责沙特阿拉伯实施封锁，并以封锁沙特船只、向途经也门附近水域的船只开火以及袭击沙特境内的石油设施作为回应。

此次袭击也让伊朗得以加大对沙特阿拉伯的压力。沙特阿拉伯是美国的盟友，境内驻扎着美军和军事基地，德黑兰称这些基地被用来袭击伊朗。

攻占摩卡可能会让受伊朗革命卫队训练和援助的武装组织在红海地区拥有更大的影响力，同时扩大其在也门的领土控制范围——尽管专家指出，前线一直在变化。

除了地缘政治影响之外，这一事态发展还有可能加剧也门的人道主义危机，而联合国已经将也门的人道主义危机列为世界上最严重的危机之一。

独家报道：也门附近的这座小岛如今已成为不断扩大的伊朗战争中的战略要地。

胡塞武装若有效封锁曼德海峡，将开辟与伊朗战争的新战线，并可能需要美国军事干预，从而削弱华盛顿保障船只通过霍尔木兹海峡的能力。此外，在当前燃料市场的关键时刻，封锁还可能阻止沙特阿拉伯向欧洲输送柴油。

此举也进一步加剧了石油市场的波动，此前由于途经霍尔木兹海峡的船只数量极少，石油市场已承压。周四，受胡塞武装在红海沿岸取得进展的消息提振，油价上涨4%，全球基准布伦特原油价格触及每桶105美元。

尽管存在担忧，但几位胡塞武装官员表示，这一进展不会对国际海运构成威胁。

“现在的问题是沙特领导的联军将如何应对，”危机组织纳吉表示。“这并非战斗的结束，未来几天我们可能会看到更多事态发展。”