CAIRO — Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognized government have launched a major military campaign designed to expel Iran-backed Houthi rebels from the strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait, a critical chokepoint for global oil shipments and commercial trade.
In retaliation, the Houthis have escalated missile and drone strikes against Saudi territory, claiming success in hitting the international airport in the capital, Riyadh, an Aramco refinery, and various military bases. Simultaneously, rebel forces have advanced near a city in western Yemen that has long been a primary battleground in the 12-year civil war.
This represents the most intense fighting in Yemen in years, unfolding against a backdrop of sustained high tensions between the United States and Iran.
While the U.S. and Gulf nations have largely restored oil exports despite months of Iranian disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump has warned that he might resume full-scale military operations following the U.S. congressional elections in November. Analysts also suggest Iran could be planning further proxy attacks.
Market volatility is already evident, with the price of Brent crude hovering near $100 per barrel on Tuesday, compared to roughly $70 a barrel before the Iran war, as prices for basic goods remain elevated well beyond the Middle East.
The conflict has had a devastating impact on the Arab world’s poorest nation.
Houthi rebels swept down from their northern stronghold and seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition subsequently intervened in 2015 on behalf of Yemen’s government.
Years of hostilities settled into a stalemated proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, causing widespread hunger and misery. The war has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
A 2022 ceasefire was largely honored until this summer.
Last month, the Houthis raced down the Red Sea coast, capturing the key port city of Mokha and islands in the Bab el-Mandeb, enabling them to tighten their declared blockade of Saudi shipping.
The strait at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Approximately 12% of the world’s trade, including a quarter of global container traffic, passes through the narrows, moving between Europe and Asia via Egypt’s Suez Canal.
The route also became a crucial alternative for Saudi oil exports when Iran initially shut down the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. and Israel launched the wider war on Feb. 28.
The Saudi-backed offensive to retake the Red Sea coast began after the Houthis captured Turbah, a town near the western city of Taiz that had served as a key staging ground for government forces.
Taiz has seen some of the heaviest fighting of the war and would represent a major prize for the Houthis.
The fighting has displaced more than 184,000 people since the beginning of August, according to the International Organization for Migration. The agency reported that nearly 22,000 people were displaced between Sept. 27 and Oct. 3, marking a 26% increase from the previous week, with nearly 6,500 displaced on Oct. 4 alone.
Yemeni officials said the Saudi-led coalition has already recaptured several key areas around the Bab el-Mandeb that the Houthis took just weeks ago, including the crucial town of Dhubab.
The coalition also captured the towns of Bab and Hadeid, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. Two witnesses, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said they saw government tanks and forces entering the towns.
Saudi officials have provided little information about the Houthis’ counterattacks. The kingdom acknowledged on Tuesday that two of its airports were attacked, leaving three lightly injured and damaging the facilities.
Two regional officials said Saudi Arabia believes the rebels won’t return to the negotiating table without military pressure. The officials were not authorized to comment publicly about internal Saudi deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank, said the Saudi-backed offensive aims to weaken the Houthis and “send a clear message that it has the capabilities to change the map of control inside Yemen.”
“The Saudis are fed up,” he said. “Not simply because the Houthis have refused to return to negotiations, but because they have continued to expand, become more maximalist in their demands and keep attacking Saudi Arabia.”
The U.S. has provided support to Saudi Arabia in the ongoing campaign, according to a regional official and a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The support included intelligence sharing, target identification, and planning for the offensive.
However, Trump has shown reluctance to widen U.S. military involvement in the Middle East and, at least for now, is not directing the U.S. military to resume its own strikes against the rebels.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan and NATO member Turkey say they are deploying military forces to the kingdom under a new defense pact but have not provided troop numbers or other details.
Analysts say Pakistan’s combat experience fighting its own homegrown militants, alongside Pakistani and Turkish technological capabilities, could strengthen Saudi defenses against threats such as drones.
AP writer Aamer Madhani in Jerusalem contributed reporting.