Houthi gains threaten Red Sea shipping as diesel hits record

Houthi fighters have taken control of Yemen’s Red Sea port city of Mokha, according to reports citing local and military sources, a major advance that threatens to deepen pressure on global shipping routes and energy prices already strained by the war involving Iran.

The Iran-backed group’s move puts it just north of the Bab el-Mandeb waterway, a crucial passage for ships moving between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. CBS News, citing reports from The Associated Press, AFP and Reuters, said the Houthis entered Mokha on Thursday. NPR reported that statements by the Houthis and a rival Yemeni commander cited by The Associated Press said Friday that the group had taken control of the city.

The advance marks the biggest territorial gain by the rebels in years and brings them within about 50 miles of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, CBS reported. The waterway has become a key alternative route for global shipping as Iran targets vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

“This renewed war should alarm us all,” Hans Grundberg, the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Thursday. “It effectively marks the end of the relative calm that Yemen has experienced for over four years since the U.N.-brokered truce.”

Grundberg urged the international community to respond to what he called a “new and more dangerous phase – one whose consequences, if left unchecked, will not stay within Yemen’s borders.”

Iran’s government on Friday called for an end to Saudi Arabia’s blockade of Yemen and the immediate resumption of talks, in its first public statement since the Houthi advance on Mokha. In a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Yemen’s sovereignty must be respected and that its problems cannot be resolved through a blockade or military alliances. Iran also said it was ready to help support negotiations.

Yemen’s U.N. ambassador, Abdullah Al-Saadi, said a single Yemeni state with control over weapons and sovereignty across the country is “a fundamental guarantee” for security for Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the region. He urged the Security Council to condemn the Houthi escalation and to adopt measures “prohibiting the supply of arms, components, technology, and military expertise to the militia.”

Saudi U.N. Ambassador Abdulaziz Alwasil said Saudi Arabia remains supportive of peace in Yemen but would “take all measures necessary to deter Houthi attacks.” He warned that “the kingdom’s commitment to de-escalation and to supporting a political solution must not be allowed to become an opportunity that this militia exploits to continue its attacks and to threaten the security of the kingdom and the region.”

The fighting has coincided with rising energy costs. The national average price for diesel in the United States rose to a record $6.05 a gallon Thursday, up more than 60% from $3.71 a year earlier, according to AAA data cited by CBS. Diesel is used widely in trucking, rail, construction and farming, meaning higher costs can ripple through consumer prices. NPR reported that U.S. gasoline prices are up 34% from a year ago, averaging $4.28 a gallon, while Brent crude rose to nearly $110 a barrel.

NPR, citing maritime analytics firm Kpler as reported by multiple outlets, said Saudi Arabia exported 3.2 million barrels of oil a day last month, its lowest level in more than a decade. The renewed Houthi threat near Bab el-Mandeb has added to the strain on Saudi oil shipping after Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz in response to the U.S.-Israeli war, NPR reported.

The escalation has also brought more displacement. The U.N. International Organization for Migration said recent fighting for Mokha and other parts of Yemen’s western coast has displaced at least 18,500 people, with families arriving at humanitarian sites short of food and shelter supplies.