Yemen’s Houthi movement has claimed to have established full control over Bab el-Mandeb, one of the world’s most strategically important maritime passages linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
Senior Ansar Allah leader Mohammed al-Bukhaiti reportedly made the claim as Iranian media reported further Houthi advances in Yemen’s western Taiz province. Reports said Houthi fighters have taken control of key areas as well as the Al-Khalid and Jabal al-Nasr military bases.
The reported advance has also reached the approaches to Al-Mokha port on Yemen’s Red Sea coast. Reports further claimed that the Houthis had taken control of Al-Mokha airport and that large numbers of opposing fighters had surrendered after resisting the advance.
Bab el-Mandeb is a critical route for international maritime trade, with significant volumes of oil, gas and food commodities passing through the waterway. The reported change in control of the area could therefore have wider implications for shipping and global commerce.
Al-Mokha port is also considered strategically important because of its location on the Red Sea and its potential role in monitoring maritime traffic in the region.
The reports come after an earlier Houthi claim of control over Zuqar, an island of strategic geographic importance in the Red Sea.
Rashad al-Alimi, president of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, has warned that changes in the military situation around Bab el-Mandeb could have consequences extending as far as the Suez Canal. He also cautioned that such developments could disrupt international trade.
Al-Alimi said the protection of Yemen’s coastal areas was not only Yemen’s responsibility but also a responsibility shared by Arab states and the international community.
Iran Claims US Maritime Drone Was Destroyed
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has claimed that it targeted and destroyed a US maritime drone resembling a Saildrone Explorer near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.
According to a statement attributed to the Revolutionary Guards, the US drone, identified by hull number 5838, was conducting a mission in the Strait of Hormuz when it was targeted.
US Officials Raise Concerns Over Iran War Strategy
At the same time, US Vice President JD Vance has reportedly expressed serious concerns about Washington’s strategy and prospects for success in the war with Iran.
According to US media reports, Vance contacted American military commanders in the Middle East, Europe and Asia and sought an unvarnished assessment of the conflict.
The reported assessments differed sharply from the Trump administration’s public messaging, according to those reports.
One of the commanders’ most significant concerns was reportedly the declining stockpile of Patriot interceptors. At one point, the number of available interceptors had fallen below 100, while supplies of other critical missile systems were also described as being at historically low levels.
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