Houthis Seize Strategic Red Sea Port, a Major Victory for Iranian Ally
The Iran-backed militia routed Yemeni government forces in Mokha, putting the group in a stronger position to attack ships in a crucial waterway for global trade.
The Iran-backed Houthi militia captured a strategic Red Sea port city on Thursday, according to two Yemeni officials, in a sweeping ground offensive that could give the group greater control over an important shipping route and further destabilize energy markets.
The Houthis pushed out forces allied with the Yemeni government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia, to seize the city of Mokha as well as its port, according to a local official in the city and a senior provincial official. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Mokha has been the focus of several days of fierce ground battles between the Houthis and the internationally recognized government.
A video circulating online and verified by The New York Times shows several pickup trucks with groups of armed men standing in their cargo beds driving through a main road in Mokha. A person behind the camera is heard saying, “Death to America, death to Israel,” part of a Houthi slogan.
For Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni allies, the capture of Mokha is a major setback, raising questions about their ability to constrain the Houthis.
“It will put the U.S. and the Saudis and their allies in a much tighter situation than they already are,” said Farea Al-Muslimi, a Yemen specialist at Chatham House, a research institution in London.
For the Houthis, who are increasingly demanding to be treated as the country’s legitimate government — and be granted the power and resources that would come with that — taking Mokha is a significant victory. It also puts an ally of Iran one step closer to controlling a key maritime choke point.
Mokha is less than 50 miles from the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea. The city’s location made it an important maritime hub hundreds of years ago, and its port was once the main export point for Yemeni coffee beans.
The Houthis have previously attacked ships in the Red Sea from Yemeni territory further north, but control of Mokha gives the militia a foothold closer to the strait, with implications for global trade and oil markets, analysts say. After the Houthis seized the city on Thursday, the price of Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose to more than $105 a barrel, its highest level in months.
“This is potentially one of the more significant turning points, particularly in recent years, of the Yemen conflict,” said Adam Baron, a Yemen-focused fellow at New America, a research organization in Washington.
The Houthis are expected to try to push farther south to try and take territory next to the strait and potentially an island in the waterway. The area is “arguably Yemen’s most strategically valuable real estate,” Mr. Baron said. If the Houthis are able to take that territory, it could leave both of the Arabian Peninsula’s major maritime choke points — Bab al-Mandab and the Strait of Hormuz — under at least the partial control of Iran and its allies, he added.
The Houthi-affiliated foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday that “maritime navigation is safe” and declared that “skirmishes” in western Yemen, where Mokha lies, “have now been brought to an end,” without elaborating.
Mokha was previously held by Lt. Gen. Tareq Saleh, a commander allied with the Yemeni government. His spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday, nor did the Saudi government.
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a Houthi political official, said in an interview that the group’s goal was to “fully restore Yemen’s sovereignty and independence” and to confront “the Saudi enemy,” rather than expand its territory.
“Other factions” in southern Yemen can “retain the areas under their control” until a Yemeni political process is held, Mr. al-Bukhaiti added. He accused General Saleh’s forces of violating Yemen’s truce “on Saudi orders,” and said that this was why the Houthis had fought them.
On Thursday, General Saleh said on social media that he had ordered his troops to “reorganize their ranks and establish an alternative command center in a secure location,” in consultation with the Saudi-led military coalition.
His forces withdrew on Thursday from at least two islands in the Red Sea — Hunaish and Zuqar — according to the senior provincial official and a coast guard official who also spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The fate of Perim island — locally known as Mayyun — an island inside the Bab al-Mandab, remains unclear.
Bab al-Mandab has become increasingly important to energy markets since the United States and Israel attacked Iran in February. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, typically ships its oil through the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the world’s oceans. Iran has effectively closed it since the early days of the war with the United States.
Saudi Arabia pivoted to the Red Sea to export most of its oil, but over the past two months, escalating tensions with the Houthis have disrupted that route.
In July, the militia declared a blockade on Saudi oil tankers passing through the Red Sea, and launched missile and drone attacks at ships and Saudi facilities from their territory in northern Yemen.
The Houthi-affiliated foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the group “will not pose a threat” and that they are “prepared to be part of the regional security framework, particularly with regard to protecting maritime navigation.” The statement did not refer to fighting in Mokha.
The ministry called on the international community “to compel the Saudi regime to stop targeting Yemen.”
In recent days, Houthi officials have accused Saudi Arabia of launching more than 100 airstrikes in Yemen to support its allies in the country. The Saudi government has not commented on those claims.
The Houthis say they have retaliated with multiple missile and drone attacks inside Saudi Arabia. Earlier this week, Saudi authorities said that recent Houthi attacks had injured more than 70 civilians in the kingdom’s southern regions.
Mr. Al-Muslimi said that, going forward, he expected the Yemeni government will try to retake Mokha and “make a comeback,” aided by Saudi airstrikes.
An official familiar with the matter said that Saudi Arabia is working to align its goals with its international partners, and is focused on supporting the Yemeni government as it tries to take back territory across Yemen. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.
The official said that Saudi Arabia views the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia as an attempt to draw Saudi Arabia more deeply and directly into the conflict, which the kingdom would prefer to avoid.
James McManagan contributed reporting from London and Kate Kelly contributed reporting from New York.
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Vivian Nereim is the lead reporter for The Times covering the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. She is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.