Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels took full control of the Bab el-Mandeb Friday when they captured a Red Sea island located in the middle of the vital shipping lane, a local government official and eyewitnesses said.
"Boats carrying armed Houthi fighters reached Mayyun Island after government forces withdrew from it yesterday," the official said, referring to an island also known as Perim that divides the strait into lanes.
"The Houthis have completed their takeover of the Bab el-Mandeb area and Mayyun Island, which is located in the middle of the strait," he added, speaking to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on condition of anonymity.
An eyewitness said gunmen were "deploying along the Bab el-Mandeb shore and are driving around in military vehicles."
Earlier, two sources from the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized Yemeni government said its forces had withdrawn from Perim and that the Houthis had also taken the mainland Red Sea coastal town of Dhubab, which faces the island.
If the Houthis gain full control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz, it could give their backer Iran a critical advantage in the war with the U.S., reducing supplies through a second major transit corridor and sending oil prices surging.
Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has relied on the Red Sea route since the Iran conflict effectively closed Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil used to flow.
In a further potentially significant development for Riyadh, satellite imagery showed smoke Thursday in the vicinity of Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline, which has become a vital means for the kingdom to divert its crude exports from Hormuz.
There was no confirmation from Saudi Arabia of any incident in the area. The Saudi government media office and state oil giant Aramco did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the smoke visible in the imagery verified by Reuters.
Aramco has used the East-West pipeline to ramp up crude flows from Saudi Arabia's eastern coast to the Red Sea to its west after U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran began six months ago, prompting Tehran to effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi crude supply fell 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd) on the month in August to 6 million bpd, the lowest level in more than three decades, the International Energy Agency said Friday, partly due to the targeting of ships transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait by groups linked to Yemen's Houthis.
Global oil prices were on track to end the week above $100 a barrel for the first time since mid-May, though they were slightly lower Friday after the Financial Times reported that foreign ministers in the Middle East were trying to work out a temporary deal to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Reuters could not immediately verify that report.
Yemeni government forces, meanwhile, indicated they would try to retake areas captured by the Houthi rebels in their lightning offensive this week along the Red Sea coastline.
They announced they would deploy weapons and aircraft to eliminate any movement of the Houthis in strategic areas, including the road leading to the coastal city of Mokha, which the group captured on Thursday along with the Red Sea islands of Hanish.
Military spokesman Colonel Majed al-Nazili called on civilians to avoid using the route between the city of Taiz and Mokha and steer clear of equipment belonging to the Houthis, mountain fighters who withstood years of Saudi airstrikes during Yemen's civil war.
Fighting between the Houthis and the Yemeni government forces has intensified in recent days, with the Iran-aligned group shifting its focus to control over Yemen's long coastline instead of just the north and the country's most populous areas.
Reuters reported on Thursday that the dramatic Houthi advance down Yemen's Red Sea coast this week came with direct guidance from Iran's Revolutionary Guards seeking to open a new front in Tehran's war with the U.S., according to Yemeni government, Iranian and regional sources.
Iran told the Houthis last week to escalate their attacks on Saudi Arabia, a close U.S. ally, and promised more funding, weapons and senior officers to help them do so, two Iranian sources said.
While Iran describes the Houthis as an ally, it publicly denies giving them military direction, saying they are "not a proxy."
Saudi Arabia has been bombing Houthi targets in Yemen but not the strategic areas the group has seized this week.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called U.S. President Donald Trump twice Thursday and urged him to launch strikes against the Houthis, Axios reported, citing two U.S. officials.
Trump rejected the request and U.S. officials said the administration does not intend to take direct military action against the Houthis at this time, the report said.
According to Axios, the U.S. is increasingly concerned about the rapidly escalating conflict in Yemen and is stepping up support for Saudi Arabia while seeking to avoid direct military involvement.
Gulf foreign ministers plan to meet their Iranian counterpart in a push by Oman and Iran to secure buy-in for a temporary deal to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times reported Friday.
The gathering is scheduled to be held Monday in the Omani coastal city of Salalah, the report said, citing two people briefed on the matter.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
