Can the Houthis close the Red Sea after seizing the Yemen coast?

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that Houthi forces have advanced along Yemen’s Red Sea coast and, by Friday, had taken control of the coastline stretching to the Bab al-Mandeb shipping gateway. The report says the group captured the port city of Mocha on Thursday, marking a major setback for Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and intensifying fighting in one of the country’s most strategic areas.

The article places the latest gains in the context of Yemen’s long-running war, which began in 2014 after the Houthis seized Sanaa and expanded to the port of Hodeidah. It notes that a UN truce in 2022 reduced large-scale fighting but did not end it, and that hostilities resumed recently as both sides tried to control the Red Sea corridor. The Bab al-Mandeb strait is a key global trade route linking the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, making the situation especially sensitive for shipping and energy markets.

Al Jazeera says analysts disagree on whether the Houthis can hold these gains. Some see the group as more capable than in the past, helped by years of Iranian weapon support and battlefield experience. Others argue the Houthis are unlikely to sustain a blockade because of governance weaknesses and the limits of their control. Even so, the article says the threat alone can raise shipping and insurance costs, giving the group leverage beyond direct military control.

The report also says the developments could increase pressure on Saudi Arabia, whose oil exports increasingly rely on Red Sea routes, and on Iran and the United States, as regional tensions and energy-security concerns deepen.