Pro-Iran Houthi Rebels Lose Red Sea Gateway After Being Pushed Back by Government Forces

[Financial News] Yemeni government forces backed by Saudi Arabia have recaptured a Red Sea gateway city that fell to pro-Iran Houthi rebels last month. Following the defeat, the Houthi rebels will find it more difficult to disrupt trade routes around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea.
According to Qatar-based Al Jazeera, Yemen's Defense Ministry announced on the 5th local time that it had captured Mocha, which had been occupied by the Houthi rebels. Four Yemeni government sources said government forces, backed by extensive Saudi airstrikes, reached the outskirts of Mocha late that day, while Houthi fighters were retreating to higher ground. Along with Dhubab to the south, the city is a key stronghold for controlling the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The Saudi government also said it had struck hundreds of targets to provide air cover for the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Yemeni ground forces. Yemeni government forces had already seized key positions, including the runway in Dhubab. The Houthis rejected the government forces' claims as unfounded.
The Houthi rebels, who had observed a ceasefire with government forces and Saudi Arabia for about four years during Yemen's civil war, resumed military activities in July around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which links the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Together with Iran, which has blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, they sought to blockade the Red Sea as well. The Houthi rebels captured Mocha, a key port city on the Red Sea, on the 10th of last month and fully seized the Bab el-Mandeb Strait the following day.
Foreign media analyzed that the Houthi rebels would find it more difficult to disrupt shipping between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean after Yemeni government forces took control of the area around the strait. At the same time, they predicted that the Houthi rebels could launch drone attacks from bases to the north along the coast and in inland areas.
Five Yemeni government officials said the Houthi rebels had advanced near the southwestern city of Taiz, seized parts of mountain roads, and surrounded Taiz, which is currently defended by a government garrison numbering several thousand troops. A Houthi-run news agency claimed that the rebels had driven government forces out of the Al-Mawasit district in Taiz Governorate and reached the residence of President Rashad al-Alimi. They also threatened to attack air traffic in Saudi airspace.
Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan agreed at an emergency meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the 5th to rapidly deploy troops and military capabilities to Saudi Arabia under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement. The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed by the three countries in August, includes a collective defense clause that treats an armed attack on any one of the three countries as an attack on all of them.
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