Houthis Complete Takeover of Yemen's Red Sea Coastline, Now Control Both Bab el-Mandeb Shipping Lanes

Iran-backed Houthi forces completed their rapid seizure of Yemen's Red Sea coastline over the weekend of Sep 11-13, capturing the strategic island of Mayyun (Perim) -- which splits Bab el-Mandeb into its two shipping lanes and fell Sep 11 -- along with the Greater and Lesser Hanish islands, after already taking the port city of Mokha on Sep 10. The group is now positioned roughly 20km (12 miles) from the African coast and effectively controls the strait, through which about 12% of global trade, 11% of seaborne oil and 8% of LNG normally passes. Al Jazeera reported Red Sea nations watching closely as the Houthis' grip tightens alongside the still-closed Strait of Hormuz and Saudi Arabia's shuttered East-West pipeline -- three chokepoints under strain simultaneously. A Houthi official claimed 'freedom of navigation and international trade in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb are safe and orderly,' though shipping companies remained cautious given an earlier Houthi statement that navigation would be safe 'for all companies except for Saudi vessels.' More than 2,000 Yemenis fled to Djibouti within 24 hours of the advance, straining humanitarian resources in the region.