IranPerim Falls Without a Shot: The Houthis Take the Island in the Strait and Close It to Saudi Ships
Day 196 in one line: for six months the Houthis fired at ships passing through Bab al-Mandeb; on Friday they simply landed on the island in the middle of it, took it without a fight, and announced that the strait is open to everyone except Saudi Arabia.
Perim Falls Without a Shot
Houthi naval forces aboard several boats reached Perim Island, also known as Mayun, early on Friday. A Yemeni government official told Xinhua they "landed on the island and took control without military resistance" after government troops withdrew overnight, adding that the Houthis now have a full grip over the Bab al-Mandeb area. The group also took Dhubab, the mainland port town facing the island across the water. Four Yemeni government sources confirmed the advance to Reuters, and a Houthi spokesman confirmed it to the Associated Press. It follows their capture of the port city of Mocha the previous day.
Why an Island Changes the Problem
Perim sits at the heart of a passage only about 20 kilometres wide, divides it into two shipping channels, and lies within five kilometres of the main lanes. Holding it converts what has been a campaign of harassing maritime traffic into direct territorial control of a chokepoint: from the island the Houthis can lay sea mines, use short-range weapons and mount boarding operations against vessels that have no room to manoeuvre away. The United Arab Emirates had begun building an airbase on Perim before pulling back from active involvement in the war earlier this year; its departure left the island exposed at the moment the Houthis were best placed to take it.
"Safe for All Companies, Except for Saudi Vessels"
A Houthi spokesman said that "maritime navigation is safe for all companies, except for Saudi vessels." That is a declared selective blockade rather than a closure: the strait stays open, but not to one country. Set beside the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has kept shut since July, Saudi exports are now constrained at both ends of the same journey. Riyadh adopted the Red Sea route precisely because Hormuz was unusable, and the group that now holds the island beside it has named Saudi shipping as the sole exception to safe passage.
Recriminations, and a Request Washington Has Not Granted
Major-General Tareq Saleh, the Yemeni commander whose National Resistance Forces held Mocha until Thursday, said he had been obliged to order a strategic retreat, and that his forces had paid a heavy price in dead and wounded confronting an attack he described as planned and supported by Iran. A senior Yemeni military official told the Associated Press the government was "stunned that the Saudi air force did not try to prevent the capture of Mokha" by striking the Houthis as they advanced. Saudi aircraft did strike Mocha airport on Friday, after the fact. Riyadh has asked Washington for military assistance; the United States has so far confined its response to intelligence and targeting support rather than direct intervention.
The Iran Front: A Captured Drone and Damaged Bases
The IRGC said it had captured a US-operated surface sail drone near the Strait of Hormuz, and two commercial ships were hit by projectiles in the Gulf of Oman. Reporting examined the damage Iranian missiles inflicted on American bases in Bahrain and Jordan, with one account quoting a description of the naval base near Manama being "blew the hell out of it". This tracker has logged the Jordanian strikes since Day 185 and records the Bahrain assessment as reported rather than independently verified.
Lebanon: 1,100 Tonnes of Explosives
Israeli forces demolished a Hezbollah tunnel network in south Lebanon using what reporting put at 1,100 tonnes of explosives, and struck an underground Hezbollah base and tunnel complex on the Ali al-Taher ridge seized earlier this month. Air strikes also hit urban infrastructure and residential areas in the ancient city centre of Tyre.
Status Assessment
Tracker status holds at WAR RESUMED. Day 196 is the most consequential territorial event of the war so far, and not a shot was fired to achieve it. Iran’s closest ally now physically holds the island that divides the Bab al-Mandeb, having taken it and the facing mainland coast from a force that withdrew overnight. One alignment now sits astride both of the region’s chokepoints — closing one entirely and opening the other to everyone but Saudi Arabia. Brent remains above $100, Riyadh has asked for American help and received intelligence instead, and no negotiation exists on any front.