The Iranian-allied movement's offensive in Yemen is raising concerns on global markets, due to Bab al-Mandab's important location for global trade routes. The strait's importance has grown further since the Strait of Hormuz - on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula - has been frequently closed this year due to the US war on Iran.
With Iranian help, the Houthis have controlled large parts of Yemen for years, in conflict with a rival government backed by powerful neighbour Saudi Arabia. Now the movement is carrying out a lightning offensive south along the Red Sea coast, and this week captured the port city of Mocha.
According to media reports, they have also established a military presence on the Hanish Islands, just north of the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait. And on Friday, Houthi forces reached the island of Mayyun, which lies in the middle of the strait and divides it into two shipping lanes, AFP reports.
Government forces withdrew yesterday, the news agency's source said.
The successes "may create the conditions for the Houthis to try to establish themselves as legitimate leaders and guarantors of passage through the strait, as Iran has tried to do in Hormuz," writes the think tank ISW.
There have previously been unconfirmed reports that the Houthis are acting on behalf of Iran, precisely in order to influence world trade and thereby put pressure on the United States.
