Houthi movement: Seizes more strategically important islands
Houthi fighters in Taiz province, shown in a video clip released by the Houthi-run TV channel Al- Masirah on Saturday. Photo: Al-Masirah TV via AP/TT
The Houthi movement in Yemen is expanding its offensive. It now claims control over several strategically located islands in the southern Red Sea.
Armed Houthi forces have seized two of the three islands comprising the Hanish archipelago, the AP reports, citing information from both the Houthi movement and Yemen's internationally recognized government.
The archipelago lies just north of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which forms the southern entrance to the Red Sea—and by extension, the Suez Canal, connecting Asia and Europe. The strait's location makes it a highly significant and vulnerable bottleneck for global shipping, particularly given the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.
The seizure of the Hanish islands comes amidst escalating fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and Yemeni government forces, supported by a Sunni coalition led by Saudi Arabia. In a rapid offensive last week, the movement captured the Red Sea coastal city of Mocha and the island of Mayyun (Perim) in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, effectively giving it control over the strait.
Meanwhile, the Houthis claimed on Monday to have launched missile and drone attacks against military facilities in Saudi Arabia. According to the news agency Bloomberg, the target was an airbase.
The Houthi movement is part of Iran's militant Islamist network—alongside Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah—united by their opposition to Israel. On Monday, Tehran denied "any involvement" in the war in Yemen.
"The Houthis are entirely independent actors who make decisions based on their own interests," said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei, according to AFP.
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