The Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Yemen on Friday declared they have taken control of Perim, a small volcanic island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital shipping chokepoint that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. The capture came one day after the Houthis took control of the port city of Mokha with assistance from Iran. Sources within the internationally-recognized, but largely exiled, government of Yemen confirmed the Houthi capture of Perim and said the insurgents have also taken control of Dhubab, the port city closest to the island.
Saudi Arabia, which supports the government of Yemen and wants to keep the Red Sea route open for its oil shipments, launched airstrikes on Friday against the airport in Mokha, but it was not immediately clear if the strikes would be followed by ground action to retake the city. Maj. Gen. Tareq Saleh, a commander in the Yemeni government’s armed forces, said he was obliged to order a “strategic retreat” away from the Houthi advance on the Bab el-Mandeb area. “The armed forces in the western coast paid a heavy price — martyrs and wounded — over the past days as they confronted the Houthi attack planned by Iran, and supported by it,” he said. A senior Yemeni military official told the Associated Press (AP) that his government was “stunned that the Saudi air force did not try to prevent the capture of Mokha” by “striking the Houthis as they advanced.”
