Houthis seized control of Yemen’s port city of Mocha on Thursday, military sources said, posing a further threat to global energy supplies hours after President Donald Trump said he expected the war to end after mid-term elections.
Four Yemeni government military sources said the Houthis had gained further leverage over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the southern outlet of the Red Sea and one of the world’s most important shipping routes, and were launching attacks on the strategic islands of Hanish.
Later, two Yemeni government sources reported the Houthis had reached the islands.
If the Houthis impose a stranglehold over the waterway, on the opposite side of the Arabian peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz, it could give their sponsor Iran a critical advantage in the war with the United States, reducing supplies through a second major transit corridor and sending oil prices surging.
Brent crude prices rose 3.5 per cent to above $100 a barrel on Thursday on concern over disruption to supply routes.
Tensions in the region were high on Thursday, with Saudi civil defence authorities issuing emergency alerts in the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait for the fourth time in 24 hours, as the Houthis attacked.
Pakistan has delivered a Saudi warning to Iran to rein in its Yemeni Houthi allies in an effort to prevent the crisis from spiralling, Saudi, Pakistani and Iranian sources said.
A senior Iranian official confirmed that Pakistan conveyed the message to Tehran on Tuesday and its response was that “Iran does not control the Houthis”.
