Houthis reportedly capture strategic Red Sea city of Mocha

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - DUBAI — Fighting has escalated across Yemen, with the country’s internationally recognized government blaming the Houthi militia for an artillery attack that killed three children, while Saudi Arabia accused the Iran-backed group of continuing to strike the Kingdom’s infrastructure.

The Houthis have seized ⁠control of the historic Red ‌Sea port city of Mocha and are closing in on the strategic ⁠Bab al-Mandeb ⁠Strait, the Reuters news agency reported, citing three unnamed Yemeni government sources.

Bab el-Mandeb, or the Gate of Tears, named for its perilous navigation conditions, is the southern ​outlet of the Red Sea, between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea on the African coast, making it a major prize for the Houthis, who control Yemen's most populous areas and much of the north.

The Houthis are nearing complete control of other coastal cities that sit directly along the strait as they push to take over the whole Yemeni Red Sea coast, the sources said.

The Houthis are launching attacks on the strategic islands of Hanish, the government sources told Reuters. Government forces ‌and their allies are relocating south to Dhubab, which sits directly on the strait, across from the island of Perim.

Over the past week, fighting has escalated across Yemen, spilling beyond the country’s border into Saudi Arabia, where the group has targeted oil installations and wounded dozens of people.

Pakistan has delivered a warning to Iran to rein in its Yemeni Houthi allies after they stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia, ​in a coordinated effort to prevent the crisis from spiralling, Saudi, Pakistani and Iranian sources said.

Spokesman for the Saudi-led international coalition Major General Turki al-Maliki said on Wednesday the Houthis were “persisting” in attacks on the kingdom’s assets and infrastructure, adding that the rebels had targeted Khamis Mushait, Abha and Jazan using ballistic missiles and drones.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei on Thursday rejected accusations made by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Yemen’s Houthis operate as a proxy for Tehran, stating that the group acts independently and takes orders from no one.

In a post on X, Baghaei accused Washington of driving regional instability through its military presence and hegemonistic policies, emphasising that lasting peace in Yemen requires an end to external intervention.

“Marco Rubio’s lies cannot replace facts. Ansarallah is an independent Yemeni actor that makes its own decisions; it takes orders from no one and acts as nobody’s proxy,” Baghaei said.

Directing criticism toward US policy in the Middle East, Baghaei urged Washington to withdraw its military involvement if it seeks genuine stability in the region.

“The roots of instability in the region lie in US military interventions and hegemonic policies. If Washington genuinely wanted peace, it would take one simple step: end its malign and destabilising interventions in our region,” he stated.