The Houthis have made a rapid advance across Yemen’s southern Tihamah coastal plain, capturing large stretches of territory previously controlled by the anti-Houthi National Resistance. According to the BBC, the Iranian-backed group may have seized up to 130km (81 miles) of Yemen’s strategically important coastline, marking its most significant military……
The Houthis have made a rapid advance across Yemen’s southern Tihamah coastal plain, capturing large stretches of territory previously controlled by the anti-Houthi National Resistance.
According to the BBC, the Iranian-backed group may have seized up to 130km (81 miles) of Yemen’s strategically important coastline, marking its most significant military gain in several years.
The advance has surprised observers and comes despite years of civil war, Saudi air raids and military operations by the United States, Israel and Britain.
Hisham al-Omeisi, a senior analyst at the European Institute of Peace, told the BBC: “Now that they are there, they’re going to be entrenched,” adding: “And it’s going to be a lot more costly to push them out.”
The Houthis continue to receive backing from Iran, particularly following setbacks suffered by other members of Tehran’s so-called “Axis of Resistance”, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Assad regime in Syria.
“So they redirected their support to the Houthis,” al-Omeisi said. “And of course they need that support.”
The latest developments have also raised concerns over Iran’s influence around two of the Middle East’s most important maritime routes — the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
Read Also:Yemen’s Divided Education System Threatens Students’ Dreams Of Studying Abroad
“Now Iran, directly and through proxies, controls two of the most strategic choke points in the Middle East and the world,” says Farea al-Muslimi, a research fellow at Chatham House, “controlling more than 35% of the fuel and oil trade globally.”
“This is as much leverage as a nuclear bomb,” he says.
The Houthis’ reported control of key islands, including Perim, could further strengthen their ability to disrupt international shipping through the Bab al-Mandab.
Yemen expert Iona Craig told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “They were able to control what was going in and out of the Bab al-Mandab and up towards Suez without having these territorial gains.”
“But of course now they’re controlling the area immediately overlooking the Bab al-Mandab, and this gives them far more leverage.”
The development has heightened concerns among shipping companies, despite a Houthi military statement saying maritime navigation was “safe for all companies except for Saudi vessels, which have already been subject to a blockade”.
The group had previously claimed it was targeting vessels linked to Israel during the Gaza war, although several ships without such connections were also attacked.
Craig said the Houthis could avoid indiscriminate attacks to prevent a repeat of Operation Rough Rider, the six-week US air and naval campaign against the group in 2025.
“They’ve already felt the wrath of the US,” she said.
The prospect of direct US involvement is also uncertain, with President Donald Trump already facing political pressure over his war with Iran and rising oil prices potentially adding to domestic concerns ahead of the November midterm elections.
The Axios website reported that appeals for US intervention from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had so far gone unanswered.
Meanwhile, satellite images of an apparent Houthi missile-and-drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline have raised further concerns. The pipeline is a crucial alternative route for oil exports following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz earlier this year.
Baraa Shaiban, a researcher and analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, linked the latest escalation to developments in July, when a Houthi delegation returned from the state funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Immediately after, the escalation started,” he said, “and it looked very clearly that [Iran was] determined to now have a bigger foothold on the Red Sea”.
With Yemen facing the prospect of renewed all-out conflict, Saudi Arabia concerned about its economic lifeline to the Red Sea and Trump reluctant to open another front, the latest Houthi advances could add a dangerous new dimension to the wider conflict involving Iran.
For millions of Yemenis already affected by years of displacement, bombing, hunger and poverty, the renewed fighting threatens to deepen an already devastating humanitarian crisis.
