Houthis seize key Red Sea city with Iranian support, threatening global shipping chokepoint

Yemen’s Houthi forces captured the strategic port city of Mokha on September 10, seizing control from Saudi-backed government troops after a grinding ground offensive fueled by Iranian arms and advisory support. The fall of Mokha, a historic Red Sea trading hub in Yemen’s Taiz province, represents one of the most consequential territorial shifts in the country’s war since fighting erupted in 2014.

The city sits roughly 75 km north of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the narrow waterway connecting the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. Somewhere between 10% and 12% of global trade passes through that chokepoint. The Houthis now control nearly the entire Yemeni side of the coastline overlooking it.

What happened in Mokha

The offensive produced hundreds of casualties and displaced thousands of civilians in a region already battered by over a decade of conflict.

Iran’s role in the operation went beyond moral support. Sources indicate Tehran provided both the weapons and the tactical advice that shaped the Houthi campaign.

Why the Bab al-Mandeb matters

The Houthis demonstrated throughout 2024 and into 2025 that they were willing to use their geographic position to harass commercial shipping, launching drone and missile attacks on vessels transiting the Red Sea. With Mokha in hand, their ability to project force over the strait’s approaches grows significantly.

Houthi strikes on targets in southern Saudi Arabia have caused disruptions at oil facilities, contributing to upward pressure on global crude prices.

The ceasefire that wasn’t

Yemen’s informal ceasefire, which took shape in 2022 and offered a fragile pause in the worst of the fighting, began to unravel by mid-2026. The renewed hostilities tracked closely with increased Iranian involvement, and the Mokha campaign appears to be the most visible product of that escalation.

Global stakes beyond Yemen

Insurance costs for vessels transiting the Red Sea, which surged during the Houthi shipping campaign of 2024, could climb further. Major shipping lines had already begun rerouting some traffic around the Cape of Good Hope during the earlier wave of attacks, adding days to transit times and billions in additional fuel costs.

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