Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels captured the strategic Perim Island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, located at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, officials said on Friday. The lightning move opens a new front in the Iran war and threatens energy supplies, especially Saudi oil exports, from passing through one of the world's key shipping lanes.
Houthi rebels backed by Iran reached the strategic island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Friday, four Yemeni government sources told Reuters, moving to tighten their grip on a vital global shipping route in the widening Middle East war.
