Houthis seize Mocha and Perim Island, widening Red Sea front
The Iran-aligned Houthis rapidly broke into Yemen’s west coast, capturing Mocha after Saudi air support reportedly failed to arrive, and then seizing Perim Island at the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. The swift advances, described amid internal Yemeni divisions and a stalled Saudi-led response, risk turning the Red Sea into a second front in the Iran conflict and could push oil prices higher ahead of US midterms, as CENTCOM coordinates with Saudi partners and the US deploys advisers to bolster targeting and intelligence.
