The advance along Yemen’s Red Sea coast increases pressure on a shipping route crucial to global energy and commercial trade.
ADEN, YEMEN — Iran-aligned Houthi forces have seized the strategic Red Sea port city of Mocha in southwestern Yemen, expanding a rapid coastal offensive that has brought the group to the edge of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s most important shipping passages.
The capture marks a major shift in Yemen’s renewed fighting because it gives the Houthis a stronger position along the southern Red Sea coast after years in which the group’s power was concentrated largely in northern and western Yemen. Government officials acknowledged losing Mocha as their forces withdrew from coastal areas, and fighting continued Sunday as the internationally recognized government sought to regroup.
Four Yemeni government military sources told Reuters that Houthi forces had taken control of Mocha on Thursday. The group also advanced toward Dhubab, a coastal town beside the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and reached islands in the Red Sea. By Friday, Houthi fighters had also taken Mayyun, or Perim, Island after government forces withdrew, according to local officials and witnesses. The island sits inside the narrow strait and separates its two shipping channels.
The Bab el-Mandeb connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. Ships traveling between Europe and Asia through Egypt’s Suez Canal generally pass through the waterway. Control of territory overlooking the strait therefore gives the Houthis greater ability to threaten shipping at a time when regional conflict has already disrupted energy traffic elsewhere in the Middle East.
The Houthis have said commercial navigation in the Red Sea remains safe for ships not covered by their announced restrictions. The group has declared Saudi vessels subject to a blockade and has also targeted Saudi energy infrastructure. Saudi Arabia has relied heavily on its Red Sea export routes as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has faced severe disruption, increasing the strategic importance of the waters around Yemen.
The coastal advance has also intensified questions about Iran’s role. Yemeni government, Iranian and regional sources told Reuters that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards provided guidance and support connected to the Houthi campaign. Iran has long described the Houthis as allies but denies directing the group as a proxy. One Iranian source told Reuters that the decision to move on Mocha was made by the Houthis themselves.
Yemen’s government has vowed to fight back. Sultan al-Arada, a member of the country’s Presidential Leadership Council, described the loss of Mocha and other west coast positions as painful and said government forces were regrouping. On Sunday, government forces reported carrying out airstrikes against Houthi positions in Mocha, Dhubab and elsewhere in Taiz province as fighting continued along the coast.
The renewed battles are putting additional pressure on civilians after several years of reduced large-scale combat. A U.N.-brokered truce that began in 2022 sharply reduced fighting but never produced a permanent political settlement. The International Organization for Migration said Sunday that more than 82,000 people had been displaced inside Yemen since the beginning of September as the latest clashes spread.
The offensive follows more than a decade of war between the Houthis and forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognized government. The Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year. Although the front lines had been relatively stable after the 2022 truce, the new coastal campaign has again raised fears of a broader civil war and deeper regional involvement.
As of Sunday, the Houthis remained in control of Mocha and newly captured positions near the Bab el-Mandeb, while government forces said they intended to retake lost territory. The continuing battles leave control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the security of the adjoining international shipping route among the most consequential unresolved issues in the renewed conflict.
Author note: Last updated September 13, 2026.