Houthis Cross Onto Perim Island Overlooking Bab al-Mandeb

Houthi forces seized Red Sea coastal ground and reportedly crossed onto Mayyun Island in the Bab al-Mandeb strait, putting artillery within range of ships.

In a rapid offensive down Yemen's Red Sea coast, Houthi forces seized new ground directly overlooking the Bab al-Mandeb, the strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. CNN reports that the Houthis then reportedly crossed onto Mayyun Island — also known as Perim — which sits in the middle of the strait. The advance marks a significant territorial gain for the Iran-allied militia, which had already declared a blockade on Saudi oil shipments through the Red Sea. According to Business Standard, the same day the advance was reported, Saudi authorities announced they had shut down the critical East-West Pipeline, blaming a drone attack by an Iran-backed Iraqi militia that caused "injuries and some damage." The convergence of these moves signals a coordinated squeeze on Saudi Arabia from multiple directions.

The Houthi capture of territory on Perim changes the military calculus in a way that prior drone and missile attacks did not. As CNN explains, with forces now positioned in the strait itself, Houthi conventional weapons — artillery and rockets — can strike at ships directly, not just via longer-range drones and missiles. That effectively places physical, line-of-sight firepower over one of the world's most important chokepoints. Business Standard notes the Houthis also "trounced Saudi-allied forces in Yemen" during the advance, and separate reporting describes the group seizing two strategic islands for shipping in the Red Sea. For a militia that has spent years being bombed by Saudi, US and Israeli campaigns, holding ground on the waterway itself represents a striking reversal of fortunes.

The core facts are corroborated across independent outlets in the pack. CNN's expert discussion, published September 15, describes the coastal offensive, the reported crossing onto Mayyun/Perim, and the new artillery threat to ships in the strait. Business Standard cites satellite imagery — a Vantor image via Reuters — showing damage at the East-West pipeline after a September 11 strike, and reports the pipeline closure announced Friday alongside the Houthi territorial gains. ABC News coverage carried by Central Oregon Daily also discusses the latest headlines in the Iran war, including Saudi Arabia's escalation of strikes on the Houthis. The convergence of the strait advance, the pipeline shutdown, and a struck Saudi tanker in the Strait of Hormuz at the end of August — which Business Standard reports killed two sailors — paints a consistent picture of multi-front pressure on the kingdom.

The consequences extend well beyond Yemen. The East-West Pipeline had become a key alternative export route for Saudi Arabia to reach the Red Sea after Iran effectively choked off the Strait of Hormuz, so its closure removes another contingency plan for the global oil market. Business Standard reports the kingdom has been knocked down the list of the world's largest oil exporters since the war began, and that Houthi attacks are "threatening to throttle its ability to export oil and piling pressure on the global economy." Former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia Michael Ratney told the Times that the Saudis' situation is, in some sense, "their worst-case scenario": attacked by an emboldened Iran and its proxies while failing to win more American military support. A meeting planned Monday between Iranian, Saudi and other Gulf officials was abruptly postponed Sunday night, with the gap between positions described as vast.

Saudi Arabia's options are narrowing. According to Business Standard, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked President Trump last week to take military action against the Houthis and was declined; Trump later told journalists in Ireland that the Houthis had "called us and they don't want to fight with us," a claim Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti denied. Vice Admiral John W. Miller, a retired US Navy commander in the Middle East, said Washington continues to assist Saudi Arabia with intelligence, while former State Department official Barbara Leaf suggested the kingdom is likely to turn to diplomacy — possibly working with neighbors and Iran on what she called an "ugly set of arrangements" to end the war. Saudi Arabia escalated its own strikes on the Houthis, per ABC News coverage, but analysts warn against a repeat of the kingdom's earlier decade-long quagmire in Yemen.