Yemen and the Red Sea

The Houthis, a movement from the northern highlands of Yemen that calls itself Ansar Allah, took the capital in 2014 and have held it against a Saudi-led air war, an American bombing campaign and Israeli strikes. Since 2023 they have attacked ships in the Red Sea, at first in the name of Gaza, and this summer in support of Iran in its war with the United States and Israel. In September they took the rest of Yemen's Red Sea coast and the island that sits in the strait at its mouth. About a tenth of the world's seaborne trade used to pass that way.

Where it stands · September 2026

On 10 September Houthi forces took the Red Sea port of Mokha. In the following days they took a key Red Sea port and islands, and attacked a Saudi base and air base. On 15 September Saudi Arabia shut an oil pipeline after damage, and prices rose. On 17 September Italy sent its navy to protect ships in the Bab el-Mandeb.

What the dispute is about

Who rules Yemen. The Houthis govern the north-west, where most Yemenis live. The government the world recognises sits in Aden and abroad, depends on Saudi money, and is split among factions that have fought each other.

The sea. The Houthis say they stop only ships tied to Israel and to states attacking them or Iran. Shipowners and navies say no ship can be sure which list it is on, and most now sail around Africa.

Whose war. To Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United States the Houthis are an arm of Iran. The Houthis say they are allies who decide for themselves.

How each side explains it

The Houthi account

Ansar Allah led a popular revolution in 2014 against a corrupt government kept in place by Riyadh and Washington. For eleven years Yemen has been bombed and blockaded by the richest states in the region with American weapons, and has not been defeated. When Gaza was being destroyed and Arab governments did nothing, Yemen alone acted, and paid for it. The sea is open to everyone except the aggressors and those who supply them. The coast now taken is Yemeni land recovered from foreign proxies.

In our coverage

The Axis of Resistance is legitimate anti-Israel/anti-US liberation →193 headlines
Covered by:Al Jazeera · Anadolu Agency · TASS (EN) · Press TV · CGTN · Daily Sabah

The account of Yemen's recognised government and Saudi Arabia

A sectarian militia overthrew an elected transitional president by force, with Iranian missiles and trainers, and rules by fear. It recruits children, lays mines, jails aid workers and diverts food. Saudi Arabia intervened at the legitimate government's request, stopped bombing in 2022 and offered a generous peace. The answer was attacks on its tankers, its pipeline and now its soldiers. No state can accept an Iranian base on its southern border and at the gate of the Red Sea.

In our coverage

What each account leaves out

The Houthi account leaves out that the movement took power with guns, has held no election, and runs prisons in which journalists, Bahais and United Nations staff are held; that many ships it struck had no link to Israel, and that the dead were Filipino and other seamen; and that the blockade of Saudi oil this summer followed, by press reports, an instruction from Tehran.

The government's and Saudi Arabia's leaves out that the coalition's air strikes hit weddings, funerals and a school bus, and that its blockade helped bring famine, in a war the United Nations estimates killed some 377,000 people by the end of 2021; that the president it fought for had been elected unopposed and was later pushed aside by Riyadh itself; and that the anti-Houthi camp has spent much of the war fighting within itself.

The American, Israeli and shipping states' leaves out that eighteen months of bombing did not stop the attacks while the Gaza ceasefire of 2025 did; that Washington made its own truce in 2025 covering American ships and not others; and that strikes on Hodeidah port and Sanaa airport cut the supply of food and medicine to a population that depends on imports.

The ledger

The Houthis

Wanted: recognition as Yemen's government, and a place among Iran's allies.
Gained: the whole Red Sea coast and a hold on a world trade route.
Paid: their ports and airport bombed, much of their cabinet killed by Israel in 2025, and a population living on aid that is no longer arriving.

Saudi Arabia

Wanted: a friendly government in Sanaa, then simply a way out.
Paid: seven years of war without result, and now the war back on its own territory.

The United States and Israel

Wanted: the sea lane open and the missiles stopped.
Gained: neither for long.

Words in dispute

Names and terms the sides do not share. This page keeps them out of its own voice.

Ansar Allah / the Houthis / the Houthi militia
revolution / coup, of 2014
the legitimate government
aggression / intervention by invitation
blockade
freedom of navigation
Iranian proxy / ally

Events per week

Per-week distribution of events. Click a bar to see that week's top events.

Click a week bar to select. Light blue = active week.

Week of Sep 28, 2026(34)

Saudi Arabia Plans Offensive Against Houthis in Yemen

10 sourcesOct 2, 2026

Fighting Intensifies Around Yemen's Taiz as Houthis Push In

4 sourcesOct 2, 2026

Houthis cut vital supply road to Yemen's Taiz: security sources to AFP - Region - World

3 sourcesOct 4, 2026

Yemeni government forces report clashes with Houthis across Taiz

3 sourcesOct 1, 2026

Houthis claim new gains as Yemeni troops launch offensive

2 sourcesOct 4, 2026

Saudi Arabia readies 100,000 Yemeni troops for Houthi assault: Can fragmented Yemeni forces retake Bab el

2 sourcesOct 3, 2026

Yemen's Houthis face costly battle for control of Taiz, stronghold of anti-rebel resistance

2 sourcesOct 3, 2026

Saudi Arabia says Houthis attempted to target Mecca, Medina 3 times over 9 years: Report

2 sourcesOct 2, 2026

US warns Houthi ties with al-Shabaab threaten Red Sea trade

2 sourcesSep 29, 2026

Saudi Arabia Restarts Red Sea Crude Oil Loadings - Crude Oil Prices Today