Houthis Take Perim Island and All of Yemen's Red Sea Coast, With Brent Near $108

Houthi fighters crossed to Perim Island, also called Mayyun, on Friday after government troops withdrew, four Yemeni government sources told Reuters. The rocky volcanic island splits the narrowest part of the Bab el-Mandeb into two shipping lanes. In the same advance the group took the last coastal towns of Dhubab and Murad, and a Yemeni military source told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that Houthi units had already seized Zuqar and the Greater and Lesser Hanish islands after missile fire and boat-borne assaults. Al Jazeera reported that the entire Yemeni Red Sea coastline is now under Houthi control.

Position on the island changes what the group can do. Until now the Houthis threatened Red Sea traffic with long-range missiles and drones fired from the mainland. NBC News reported that holding Perim lets them watch vessels at close range and threaten them directly, without relying on those weapons alone. The Bab el-Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz together carry more than a quarter of seaborne crude and petroleum products, and Saudi Arabia has leaned harder on its Red Sea export route since the war with Iran began, precisely to avoid Hormuz.

Crude held its gains. Reuters reported Brent at $108.44 a barrel on Friday, up 81 cents, and West Texas Intermediate at $103.17, up 69 cents, leaving both benchmarks on course to close a week above $100 for the first time since mid-May. On the week they were up close to 13 percent. That follows Thursday's repricing on the fall of Mokha, when Gulf News reported Brent above $107 and The National put it near $108 against $101.53 on Wednesday, noting that roughly 10 percent of global oil supply moves through the strait. The Financial Times tied the advance to higher oil prices feeding the bond selloff.

Saudi Arabia pressed Washington for a military answer and did not get one. Israel's Ynet, citing Axios reporting that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called President Donald Trump twice on Thursday to urge strikes on the Houthis, said Trump refused. The Jerusalem Post carried the same account, quoting a senior American official who said Washington is focused on freedom of navigation while leaving regional partners to lead, and Ynet reported that the United States would supply the Saudis with intelligence and targeting data. Riyadh then acted alone. Saudi warplanes struck Mokha's airport twice on Friday, according to the Houthi-run Al-Masirah broadcaster, whose account was carried by the Associated Press, with no immediate report of damage or deaths.

Each side describes the retreat differently. Yemeni government officials said the coastal withdrawal was a planned reorganization ahead of a counter-offensive against Houthi positions. Iran's government, which backs the Houthis, called for an end to what it described as a Saudi blockade of Yemen and urged talks between Riyadh and the group, the Associated Press reported. Meanwhile the other chokepoint stays nearly empty: TASS, citing Reuters vessel tracking, said seven ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz on September 10, a count that excludes vessels sailing with transponders switched off. Both of the waterways that carry Gulf oil to Europe and Asia are now contested at the same time, and crude above $100 has lasted long enough to enter the inflation data central banks are about to act on.