Houthis seek Red Sea shipping leverage, Yemeni foreign minister says
Yemen’s foreign minister-designate said the Houthis aim to control Bab al-Mandeb as tensions with Saudi Arabia rise.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
Yemen’s Houthi movement is trying to gain leverage over Red Sea shipping by copying Iran’s approach in the Strait of Hormuz, Yemen’s foreign minister-designate said, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. Afrah al-Zouba warned that control over Bab al-Mandeb would give the group influence over one of the world’s most important maritime routes.
Speaking to journalists at Yemen’s embassy in Riyadh on Monday, al-Zouba said the Houthis were seeking to apply what she called the Iranian model to a second strategic waterway. She said such a move could threaten access through the main gateways into the Gulf and the Red Sea.
Al-Zouba represents Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia. She said the Houthis, who are supported by Iran, had been encouraged by what she described as an inadequate international response to their actions in the region.
Why does Bab al-Mandeb matter for Red Sea shipping?
Bab al-Mandeb is the narrow passage linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Its position makes it a critical route for commercial vessels moving between Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Al Jazeera and Reuters reported that about 30 percent of global container traffic moves through the Red Sea, along with 12 to 15 percent of total global trade. Western Yemen’s coastline gives whoever controls that area strong influence over traffic passing through Bab al-Mandeb.
Shipping through the Red Sea has already fallen, according to data cited by Al Jazeera and Reuters. On Sunday, only 11 commodity vessels passed through the waterway.
What has changed in the Yemen conflict?
Al-Zouba’s remarks came during a new rise in tensions involving the Houthis, Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognised government. Earlier in July, the Houthis announced a maritime siege on Red Sea shipping to and from Saudi Arabia and fired missiles and drones at the kingdom, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters.
Saudi Arabia has responded with air strikes on Hodeidah, the key Red Sea port city held by the Houthis. The current escalation is the largest since a 2022 truce and has unfolded as US attacks on Iran have resumed, Al Jazeera and Reuters reported.
Al-Zouba said Yemen’s government was ready for further escalation. She said gunfire was being exchanged along the front line between Houthi-held territory and government-controlled areas, while no offensive had begun.
Fighting around Hodeidah earlier this month killed nearly 20 fighters from both sides, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. The clashes underscored the fragility of the truce that had reduced the intensity of the war since 2022.
Yemen’s war began in 2014, when the Houthis took the capital, Sanaa, and then-President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi later fled to Riyadh. Saudi Arabia led an Arab coalition against the Houthis from 2015 until the 2022 truce.
The Houthis still control Sanaa and other areas of Yemen in 2026. Al Jazeera and Reuters reported that strains between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, including Riyadh’s accusation that Abu Dhabi backed a southern separatist group, have also shaped events on the ground.
Civilians have suffered the heaviest losses. An estimated 377,000 people died between 2015 and the start of 2022, most from indirect effects of the war such as famine and disease, according to the figures cited by Al Jazeera and Reuters.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.