Fighting in the war involving the United States, Israel and Iran spread further along Yemen’s coastline and into the southern Red Sea around September 13, with the conflict’s maritime fronts drawing fresh attention. Houthi forces seized Mayun Island, a small but strategically placed piece of land near the mouth of the Red Sea, tightening their hold on one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors.
Saudi Arabia and the Houthis exchanged strikes over the Bab al-Mandeb strait, the narrow passage that separates the Arabian Peninsula from the Horn of Africa. Reports pointed to damage at a critical Saudi pipeline, with satellite imagery cited as evidence of a drone attack, and the line was said to have been shut down. The exchanges raised the risk of wider disruption to energy exports from the region.
On the ground, Yemeni government forces reported striking Houthi vehicles in the areas of Dhubab and Mocha, near the Red Sea coast. The clashes reflected the layered nature of the conflict in Yemen, where local factions have long fought one another even as the broader regional war has pulled in outside powers and reshaped the map of control along the shoreline.
The Bab al-Mandeb strait is one of the most important chokepoints for global commerce, carrying a large share of the oil, gas and container traffic that moves between Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Any sustained fighting around the passage threatens to raise shipping costs, force vessels onto longer routes and add pressure to energy markets already strained by months of conflict.
The maritime clashes formed part of a wider confrontation that has drawn in the United States and Israel against Iran and its allies. Houthi officials warned against foreign intervention, while regional and international bodies pressed for restraint. Days earlier, leaders meeting at a summit in New Delhi had urged calm in the Middle East, a call that had yet to slow the fighting along the Red Sea.
