Yemen’s Houthi rebels seized Perim Island in the Red Sea Friday, giving the militia expanded sway over the important Bab el-Mandeb strait. The island’s capture comes a day after the Houthis took another key Red Sea site—the port city of Mokha—from forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognized government. Media reports indicate the Houthis now exercise functional control over Yemen’s entire Red Sea coastline; many analysts fear this will allow the Iran-aligned group to throttle shipping through the waterway, which could send oil prices soaring even higher.
The Houthis’ advance poses particular problems for Saudi Arabia, which exports much of its oil through the Red Sea and has been the principal international backer of Yemen’s government. The militia has also launched attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure in recent days, including possible strikes that shut down the Kingdom’s important East-West oil pipeline Friday. CNN reported Thursday that over 100 U.S. military advisors were on the ground in Saudi Arabia to provide intelligence and targeting support for its campaign against the Houthis. Iran released a statement Friday calling for an end to the Saudi blockade of Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and a return to negotiations over the country’s future.
Elsewhere in the region, Israel demolished what it claimed was a large Hezbollah facility in southern Lebanon, triggering a 4.1 magnitude earthquake.
In the United States, President Trump attended a ceremony commemorating the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and connected the terror attacks to the Iran War. “We salute every member of the United States military who served in the war on terror,” Trump said in remarks at the Pentagon, “and we salute the service members working right now to ensure the world’s number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will never ever have a nuclear weapon.” The New York Times also reported Thursday that Vice President J.D. Vance had independently sought out military commanders’ “unvarnished assessments” of the the goals, tactics, and likely trajectory of the war with Iran.
Brent crude oil was trading at a little over $100 per barrel Friday, and average diesel prices in the United States hit $6.06 per gallon—a new record high. AAA reports that the average price of regular gasoline in the United States is $4.30 per gallon.
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