The Houthis made their biggest territorial gains in years along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s key shipping lanes. The advance could strengthen Iran’s strategy of driving up global oil and gas prices to pressure the United States.
Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry said the East-West pipeline was shut down as a “precautionary measure” after the attack the previous day. The Saudi foreign ministry said several drones from Iraq had carried out the attack, which “caused human injuries and damage.”
In a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, Saudi Arabia said it would not respond immediately in order to give the Iraqi government “an opportunity to take the necessary measures.” At the same time, the kingdom stressed that it “reserves the right to take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty, its security, its facilities,” and its inhabitants.
The Iraqi government condemned the assault. The prime minister’s office announced the dismissal of a military commander after investigations confirmed that the attack originated from Iraq. Two Iraqi sources later told Reuters that Iraq had ordered the closure of the Shalamcheh border crossing with Iran as a precautionary measure, while a wide-scale operation was underway to pursue those responsible for the attack.
Saudi Arabia and the United States bombed Iranian-backed militias in Iraq in July after blaming them for drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities that had been claimed by the Houthis. Regional officials told the Associated Press that the Houthis helped Iraqi militias plan and execute the attacks.
The East-West pipeline was built in the 1980s and has played an important role in Saudi Arabia’s ability to export oil following the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war. By early June, Saudi Arabia had more than doubled oil exports from the Red Sea port at the pipeline’s end to more than 5 million barrels per day, according to the International Energy Agency.
The Houthis’ capture of Mayun, a tiny, barren volcanic island inside the strait also known as Perim, was confirmed by a senior military official with Yemen’s internationally recognized government and by a Houthi official. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, has increasingly relied on the Red Sea to move its crude to market as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been striking ships. Houthi efforts to close the 28-kilometer-wide (17-mile) Bab el-Mandeb channel have made that route more complicated.
In a statement Friday, the Houthi armed forces boasted of gains along the coast without mentioning the island, Mokha or the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. They vowed “escalation for escalation” in the confrontation with Saudi Arabia while declaring that “maritime navigation is safe for all companies except for Saudi vessels.”
Markets remained nervous, with experts describing the Houthis as highly unpredictable. Crude prices this week again soared above $100 a barrel, giving Tehran more leverage in any talks.
The Houthis have been attacking Saudi shipping in the Red Sea since declaring a blockade in July, while also targeting oil infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia. The rebels said they acted in response to the kingdom’s yearslong blockade of Houthi-held parts of Yemen.
Saudi Arabia struck the airport in the port city of Mokha after the Houthis seized it Thursday, according to a Houthi broadcaster. There were no reports of damage or deaths.
A senior military official with Yemen’s internationally recognized government told the Associated Press that officials were stunned that the Saudi air force did not try to prevent the capture of Mokha, located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the strait. The official assessed that Saudi Arabia did not receive a green light from the United States to embark on a large-scale air campaign.
Shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait had fallen by about 60% since the Houthis began attacking some ships there in late 2023 and expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Shipping increased this year as Saudi Arabia sought alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz, but renewed Houthi threats have “curtailed” that activity, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
Saudi Arabia has therefore been forced to seek another alternative by sending its oil north from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, either through the Suez Canal or via a pipeline through Egypt. The route is far longer for its clients in Asia. The Houthis have threatened that route as well, striking a Saudi vessel in the northern Red Sea in late August.
Earlier Friday, Iran’s government called for an end to Saudi Arabia’s blockade of Houthi-held areas in a show of support for its ally. Iran’s Foreign Ministry also called for a return to negotiations between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.
The Houthis’ importance to Tehran was underscored on Wednesday when the spokesperson for Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard called for any negotiated settlement with the United States to include Yemen, marking the first explicit reference to that front.
Saudi Arabia, which said it had always offered “opportunities for negotiation,” also maintained that it has the right to defend itself. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on social media that the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia spoke Thursday about diplomatic efforts to “restore stability.”
The escalation also threatens to end a fragile truce that had largely halted Yemen’s civil war since 2022. As the Houthis swept along the Red Sea coast toward the Bab el-Mandeb channel, Yemen’s Saudi-backed government called for international support.
In a statement Friday from a meeting held the previous day, its National Defense Council said it was on the front line of defending freedom of navigation and condemned the Houthis’ renewed attacks on Saudi Arabia.
The fighting threatens to return Yemen to a broader civil war, with 40 million people at stake in the Arab world’s poorest country. The conflict killed 150,000 people and pushed many others to the brink of famine.
The surge in fighting over the past week has forced more than 46,000 people to flee, the UN migration agency said Friday.
People seeking safety left with “whatever they can grab,” Abdusattor Esoev, mission chief in Yemen for the International Organization for Migration, said Friday. He said the number of people displaced had more than doubled this week and could still rise sharply.
“You see the fears in their eyes, and people are scared,” Esoev said.
Those fleeing included doctors and other medical workers. Lou Cormack, Yemen coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, said Friday that the aid group had prioritized keeping Mokha’s hospital open after most of its staff left.
The Houthis have been at war with Yemen’s government since 2014, when the rebels seized much of northern and central Yemen and the capital, Sanaa. Saudi Arabia entered the war the following year on behalf of the government.
The pipeline shutdown, the Houthi advance around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the growing displacement in Yemen now add pressure to an already fragile regional situation, putting oil routes, maritime navigation and the country’s ceasefire under renewed strain.
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