The United States is facing an imminent “strategic disaster” as Yemen’s Houthis inch closer to capturing a major oil trade “chokepoint,” The Guardian reported Thursday, a development that could soon open a “second front” in President Donald Trump’s deeply unpopular war against Iran.
Multiple news outlets reported Thursday that the Houthis had captured the Yemeni town of Mocha, which sits on the coast of the Red Sea in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which, like the Strait of Hormuz, is a major chokepoint for global shipping. According to Euronews, the two straits account for roughly a “quarter of daily petroleum and crude shipments, and nearly one-third of the world's maritime trade.”
The Houthis are also working toward seizing complete control of Yemen’s west coast on the Red Sea, having previously vowed to block all Saudi Arabia shipments out of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
“Seizure of the coast would be a strategic disaster for Saudi Arabia and the US, taking Iran and its proxies closer to full control of two chokepoints for western shipping on opposite sides of the Arabian peninsula,” The Guardian’s report reads.
“Observers have said a reduction in hostilities — the most intense since the UN-sponsored ceasefire of April 2022 put an end to major military exchanges — now seems unlikely in what is seen as an attempt by the Houthis to open a second front in the Iran-US war, alongside the battle for control of Hormuz.”
The new threat to global trade comes as diesel prices in the United States soared to an all-time average high of $5.85 a gallon, breaking the previous record set in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Average costs for regular gasoline have spiked as well, reaching $4.15 a gallon last week.
As noted by The Guardian, Saudi Arabia had also become increasingly “reliant” on traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait following disruptions to trade through the Strait of Hormuz.