Houthi-aanvallen op Saudi-Arabië en in de Bab el-Mandebstraat vormen een extra hindernis voor elke poging van de VS om zich uit oorlogen in het Midden-Oosten terug te trekken.

Iraq’s government is racing to contain the fallout after confirming that attacks on a Saudi pipeline, blamed on Iran-backed militias, came from its territory.

More than 76,000 people in Yemen have fled their homes amid escalating fighting with Houthi militants in the country's southwestern coast.

A strategic location on the Red Sea afforded the city centuries of trading dominance — and makes it a coveted target in today’s fighting in the Middle East.

Perim Island sits in the Bab al- Mandeb Strait, a globally important maritime chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea.

The Houthis’ biggest territorial gains in years, along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, could boost Iran’s strategy of driving up world oil and gas prices to pressure the United States.

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have captured a strategic island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The move threatens Saudi oil exports through a key commercial lane. And Saudi Arabia said it shut down a major oil pipeline as a precaution after it came under attack.

Rebel fighters are reported to have captured Perim, a strategic island on a vital international shipping route.

The internationally recognized government of Yemen is eager to beat back the Houthis and retake the entire country. But for several years that prospect had seemed out of reach. The government depends heavily on Saudi Arabia for financial and military support, and Saudi Arabia did not want another war with the Houthis.

The Bab el-Mandeb at the southern end of the Red Sea is especially important to neighboring Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally, whose blockade of the Houthis has fed into the rebels’ escalating attacks on Saudi shipping as the kingdom tries to get its oil out of the region. About 12% of the world’s goods are typically shipped through the strait.

Yemeni forces struck Houthi positions on the Red Sea coast as the rebels fired into Saudi Arabia. The renewed fighting has displaced thousands and raised fears of a wider regional conflict.