Rapid advance of Iran-backed force threatens key alternative shipping route to Strait of Hormuz.

The Houthis have taken control of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast, according to reports.

The rebel group seized the last towns on the coast in a rapid advance against the forces of the internationally recognised Yemeni government early on Friday, and has pushed onto islands in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, government sources and witnesses reported.

The advance strengthens the control of the Iran-backed Houthis over the key shipping route. The Red Sea has been utilised as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, through which around one-fifth of global energy shipments were carried before the war between the United States and Iran began earlier this year.

Houthi fighters reached the coastal town of al-Makha – also known as Mocha – at dawn on Thursday, then moved offshore to seize nearby islands, Al Jazeera’s Maha Ali reported from Taiz city.

Yemeni government sources told the Reuters news agency on Friday that Houthi fighters had reached the town of Dhubab, on the coast of Bab al-Mandeb.

Boats carrying fighters reached Mayyun Island in the heart of the strait after government forces withdrew, a local government official, speaking anonymously, told the AFP news agency.

“The Houthis have completed their takeover of the Bab al-Mandeb area,” the source said.

The Sanaa-based Yemen Press Agency, citing field sources, said Houthi forces seized the Al-Omari camp overlooking the strait.

Al Jazeera’s Nabil al-Yousfi, reporting from Sanaa, noted there has been no official announcement by the Houthi government confirming control over Bab al-Mandeb.

Leverage

Bab al-Mandeb is the southern gateway to the Red Sea and the approach to Saudi oil terminals that ship crude to Europe while avoiding Hormuz. Traffic decreased significantly during the earlier Houthi campaign to target shipping there.

“The Houthis have the strong hand now,” reported Al Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry from the capital, Sanaa. “They have the leverage and they have control of Bab al-Mandeb and the shipping traffic going through the Red Sea.”

He added that there are few signs that Yemeni government forces are preparing a counteroffensive to push the Houthis back.

As the Houthi advance was reported, the average price of diesel in the United States surpassed $6 a gallon and oil prices on Friday were set to close above $100 a barrel for the first time since mid-May.

The International Energy Agency forecast on Friday that global oil supply and demand are likely to fall further this year than previously assumed, with the US-Iran war delaying normal Middle East flows into 2027.

Iran has successfully applied pressure on the US by choking Gulf exports through Hormuz, suppressing energy supplies and increasing prices worldwide.