ERBIL () - Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis seized Greater and Lesser Hanish on Friday, taking the last two islands that remained outside their control in the Bab al-Mandeb area and further consolidating their position along one of the world's most important maritime corridors, according to a Yemeni government military official cited by AFP.
"Everything that was under our control on the western coast has fallen,"the official from Yemen's internationally recognized government told AFP.
The seizure came only hours after the Houthis took control of Mayyun Island, also known as Perim, which sits in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait between Yemen and the Horn of Africa.
Together with the group's earlier capture of the Red Sea port of Mocha, the latest advances represent a major shift along Yemen's western front and give the Houthis considerably greater influence over territory surrounding the shipping route linking the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea and Suez Canal.
The latest gains follow an offensive that Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said began on Sept. 3.
In a video statement Friday, Saree claimed Houthi forces had taken approximately 5,400 square kilometers across six districts in Taiz and Hodeidah provinces.
He also claimed the operation targeted seven military divisions comprising 38 brigades and resulted in hundreds of opposing personnel being killed, wounded or captured.
Those battlefield figures could not be independently verified from the material provided.
Saree further claimed Houthi air-defense units had carried out 32 operations against Saudi aircraft and shot down nine planes.
Despite their expanded control around the waterway, Houthi officials have sought to reassure international shipping interests.
Saree said vessels belonging to companies other than Saudi Arabia remained safe, while reiterating the group's policy of responding to the Saudi blockade with what he described as a "blockade for blockade"approach.
Hizam al-Assad, a member of the Houthis' political bureau, separately said Friday that commercial navigation through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb would remain uninterrupted.
In remarks reported by AFP, Assad said there was "no cause for international concern"and denied that the Houthis intended to impose transit fees on vessels passing through the strategic corridor.
Those assurances come as Bab al-Mandeb assumes even greater importance because of disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz during the wider Iran-US conflict.
The Bab al-Mandeb connects the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea and Suez Canal, making it a vital route for energy shipments and global commerce.
The territorial advances have also intensified scrutiny of Iran's support for the Houthis.
Reuters reporters Parisa Hafezi, Mohammed Ghobari and Timour Azhari reported Thursday, citing Yemeni government, Iranian and regional sources, that Iranian weapons, funding and military advice had assisted the Houthi campaign along Yemen's Red Sea coast.
Five Yemeni military sources told Reuters that members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps helped direct the offensive along the Tihama coastal plain.
Two Iranian sources said Tehran had urged the Houthis to intensify attacks against Saudi Arabia and promised additional assistance, including weapons and funding.
Iran publicly denies directing Houthi military operations and maintains that the group acts independently.
A separate Iranian official cited by Reuters said the decision to advance on Mocha had been made by the Houthis themselves, although the official acknowledged that the operation benefited Tehran strategically.
The Houthi offensive has unfolded as Saudi-backed forces have concentrated much of their military effort farther north.
The rapid loss of Mocha, Mayyun and now Greater and Lesser Hanish indicates that the immediate military balance along Yemen's western coastline has shifted sharply.
For international shipping, the central question is whether the Houthis' expanded territorial control will remain a military development inside Yemen or translate into tighter restrictions on maritime traffic.
The group insists ordinary commercial navigation will continue.
But its increasingly dominant position around Bab al-Mandeb gives it greater ability to influence a waterway whose security has consequences far beyond Yemen.
