Houthis Capture Yemen's Mocha Port, Tightening Grip on Bab el-Mandeb

Iran-aligned Houthi militants captured the Yemeni port city of Mocha on Thursday, military sources said, extending their hold over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and heightening risks to global energy shipments.

Four Yemeni government military sources said the Houthis had strengthened their leverage over the strait — the southern gateway to the Red Sea and one of the world's busiest shipping lanes — and were attacking the strategic Hanish islands. Government forces and their allies were moving south along the Red Sea coast towards Dhubab, which faces Perim island directly on the strait. Military sources described control of Dhubab and Perim as decisive for commanding the waterway.

Brent crude traded above $100 a barrel as disruptions persisted through both the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has leaned on the Red Sea route since the Iran conflict effectively shut Hormuz, which previously carried about a fifth of global oil supplies.

The Houthis entered the war alongside Iran with an attack on Israel on March 28, but remained largely inactive before declaring a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia in July and intensifying strikes on the kingdom's south in September. Saudi civil defence authorities issued emergency alerts in the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait for the fourth time in 24 hours.

Pakistan delivered a Saudi warning to Iran urging it to restrain its Houthi allies, according to Saudi, Pakistani and Iranian sources. A senior Iranian official confirmed the message was conveyed on Tuesday and said Tehran's response was that it does not control the Houthis.

The escalation in Yemen coincides with the largest declared wave of tit-for-tat attacks on shipping between Iran and the United States since the war began in February. Iran said it struck 10 vessels near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday after the U.S. sank five Iranian oil tankers.

President Donald Trump again threatened to strike a site tied to Iran's nuclear programme, telling a Republican mid-term convention that Washington may hit Pickaxe Mountain, a fortified location housing two deep tunnel complexes near the damaged Natanz enrichment facility. He also said he expected the war to end immediately after November's mid-term elections, arguing Tehran was trying to influence the vote. Top White House advisers have privately cautioned that the conflict could run through the remainder of his presidency, which ends in January 2029, according to a report that could not be immediately verified.

Seen as part of Iran's regional "Axis of Resistance," the Houthis have also fired drones and missiles at Israel and targeted commercial shipping in the Red Sea in support of the Palestinians in Gaza.

Hopes of a gradual reopening of Hormuz have faded. Only seven vessels transited the strait on Wednesday, half the 10-day average, preliminary ship-tracking data showed.