Yemen envoy warns of wider war as Houthis threaten Bab al-Mandeb Strait

What the report says

Yemen’s ambassador to Qatar, Rajeh Badi, told Al Jazeera that Houthi advances along Yemen’s Red Sea coast risk widening the conflict and threatening international shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. In the interview, published on 9 September 2026, he said the internationally recognised government viewed the fighting as having consequences beyond Yemen because the strait links the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and is a major route for energy and food shipments.

Badi said Houthi forces had moved toward areas including al-Makha and al-Waziyah in Taiz province, which overlook the Red Sea. He described the group as acting on behalf of Iran and argued that its attacks on shipping and on Saudi-linked targets were meant to change the shape of the war. The article also notes that Saudi coalition spokesman Major-General Turki al-Maliki said the Houthis launched missiles and drones at Saudi cities including Khamis Mushait, Abha and Jizan, though no casualty details were provided.

The ambassador said Yemen’s government had opened additional fronts in al-Jawf, Marib and al-Bayda in response. He warned that if Red Sea traffic were disrupted, the result could resemble another strategic chokepoint crisis, with broader effects on regional trade and security. More generally, Yemen has been fractured by war for years, and the piece places the current fighting within that longer conflict and the wider rivalry between Iran and its regional adversaries.