Recriminations Over Who Lost Red Sea Choke Point

 CNN published on 12 September 2026 an article titled "'A F***-up of Epic Proportions': Blame Game Begins after Iran-backed Houthis' Lightning Advance Down Red Sea Coast" by Nic Robertson and Lauren Kent.  

The quick seizure of strategic Red Sea coastline by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen has led to recriminations as to how it happened.  There were no airstrikes by Saudi Arabia or the United States in support of Yemeni government forces to halt the Houthi advance.  Yemen and the Red Sea now have the potential to become the second front in the Iran war.  

Houthis Further Expand Control Over Red Sea Choke Point

 The New York Times published on 11 September 2026 an article titled "Why the Houthis' Lightning Advance Threatens Global Shipping" by Sergio Pecanha, Lazaro Gamio, and Weiyi Cai. 

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen now have firm control of the Bab el Mandeb choke point at the south end of the Red Sea, having captured Perim Island.  A distance of only 12.5 miles now separates Perim Island from Djibouti across the Red Sea in Africa.  Shipping lanes through the Bab el Mandeb Strait run less than 3 miles from Perim Island, within easy range of Houthi drones.  

Strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait

Politico published on 29 January 2018 an article titled "The Strait at the Center of the World" by Bruno Macaes, senior adviser at Flint Global in London.

The author discusses the strategic position of the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait that separates Djibouti and Yemen. He notes it is a rare place where refugees meet as they flee a brutal war and Yemen and leave the Horn of Africa to seek employment in the Gulf States.