Iran-backed Houthi forces seized the strategic Yemeni port city of Mocha on Thursday and advanced towards positions overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, opening a dangerous new front for global trade at a time when shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is already severely constrained. The advance threatens the southern gateway to the Red Sea just as Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on that route to bypass Hormuz, raising fears of further disruption to oil and commercial shipping on both sides of the Arabian Peninsula and potential knock-on effects for oil and goods prices.

Yemeni government sources said the Houthis captured Mocha and reached the Hanish Islands, while Saudi-backed government forces withdrew towards Dhubab, opposite the strategically important island of Perim. US energy data shows crude flows through Bab el-Mandeb rose to 8.1 million barrels per day in the second quarter of 2026, up from 5.4 million in late 2025, as Hormuz volumes collapsed from 21.6 million to 4.9 million barrels per day. Reuters reported that Iranian arms and guidance from the Revolutionary Guards aided the Houthi advance, and analysts warned that military equipment abandoned by retreating government forces could further strengthen the group, amid what monitor ACLED called the most serious escalation yet between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed camp.