Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels captured more strategic territory near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, government and Houthi officials said Monday. Houthi rebels deployed fighters to the Hanish islands, 100 miles north of the entrance to the strategic strait, after Yemeni government forces withdrew from the territory, according to two government officials and a Houthi official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The capture of the islands came after the Houthis expanded their control over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait late last week with the capture of the port city of Mokha.
The capture of the islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish came as Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces attempted to fight back over the weekend following the rebels' swift advances around the strait. The Bab el-Mandeb is a crucial alternative to the Strait of Hormuz for Saudi Arabian energy exports, but attacks on Saudi infrastructure and ships in the Red Sea by the Houthis and other Iranian proxy forces have severely impeded shipments through the waterway. The Houthi-Saudi escalation adds pressure on global oil supplies and prices, which could give Iran greater leverage in its war with the United States.
Iran's foreign minister denied on Monday any involvement by the country in the attack on Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline last week, which forced the crucial piece of infrastructure to shut down. When asked about Iran's response to the claim that the Islamic Republic regime played a role in orchestrating the attack on the pipeline from Iraqi territory, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei accused the U.S. of producing "false news." "The fact that, under these circumstances, the U.S. keeps fabricating a lie in order to exacerbate divisions between the countries of the region is one of the consequences of the issues that exist in our region," Baghaei told reporters in his weekly press briefing. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but Saudi Arabia has previously accused Iran-backed militias in Iraq of attacking its oil infrastructure.
The conflict in Yemen intensified on Sunday as government forces launched attacks against Iran-backed Houthi rebels along the Red Sea coast, and the Houthis fired into neighboring Saudi Arabia, which supports Yemen's government. Yemen's government vowed to send more forces to the Red Sea coastal region as one official conceded a "painful" defeat last week as the Houthis captured the port city of Mokha and an island on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The strait is the southern gateway to the Red Sea, making it a crucial alternative shipping route for Saudi energy products with the Strait of Hormuz severely impeded by the U.S.-Iran war.
The escalation between the Houthis and the Saudi military has ratcheted up pressure on global oil supplies, pushing crude prices up toward four-month highs as it threatens to further choke Saudi Arabia's oil exports. Oman's foreign minister said the country had to postpone a meeting Monday in Muscat with Iran and other regional countries to discuss the Strait of Hormuz. Iran had said foreign ministers from regional countries would meet in Oman to discuss efforts by Iran and Oman, located on the other side of the strait, to manage shipping on it.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said late Sunday in a post on X, however, that the meeting had been postponed "in the interests of consensus." Iran and Oman agreed to postpone the talks "at the request of some regional countries," said Mohammad Ali Bak, an official in Iran's foreign ministry who was quoted by IRNA on X. Saudi Arabia has submitted amendments to the Iran-Oman agreement, citing concerns that the emerging deal could have lasting implications for the Strait of Hormuz that could negatively impact other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, according to a Gulf official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Iran, Oman and mediating nation Pakistan had voiced optimism a couple weeks ago that the two states with coastline in the strait were poised to announce agreement on a new mechanism to control commercial traffic through the vital waterway.
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