Houthis take Perim Island in Bab el-Mandeb as Saudi jets strike Mocha airport
NEW · Fri. 10:20 a.m. EDT
Iran-backed Houthi forces reached and occupied Perim Island (Mayun) in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Friday after Saudi-aligned Yemeni government troops withdrew, officials told the Associated Press, Reuters, and AFP. The barren volcanic island sits in the middle of the narrow waterway linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Houthis also took the mainland coastal town of Dhubab facing the island a day after seizing the port of Mocha; a Houthi broadcaster said Saudi aircraft struck Mocha’s airport Friday with no immediate casualty report. Brent crude remains on track to end the week above $100 as the advance tightens pressure on a second energy corridor while Hormuz traffic stays constrained.
Perim Island (Mayun) and the Yemeni coast at Bab el-Mandeb. File photograph; not from Friday’s fighting.
Michael Kleiner / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Center-left view
The Associated Press, NBC News, and AFP/France 24 emphasize the government withdrawal from Perim and Dhubab, Saudi airstrikes on Mocha airport, U.N. reports of tens of thousands displaced along the Red Sea coast, and warnings that the offensive risks ending Yemen’s fragile truce and widening the U.S.–Iran war onto a second shipping corridor.
Sources: Associated Press · NBC News · AFP / France 24
Center-right view
Reuters (via CNA), Fox News, and OilPrice.com frame the Perim/Dhubab push as Iran-aligned leverage over Bab el-Mandeb energy and Suez-bound trade after Hormuz disruption, noting Saudi reliance on the Red Sea bypass, oil near multi-month highs, and Riyadh’s request for U.S. strikes that Axios reported Trump declined.
Sources: Reuters / CNA · Fox News · OilPrice.com