Houthis, Yemen Fighting Continues, Saudi Arabia Faces Pipeline Challenges
Fighting between the Houthis and Yemen’s National Government continued over the weekend after the Iranian-backed rebel group captured strategic points on the Red Sea. The Houthis captured Mocha, Yemen, and Perim Island late last week, giving them a new stronghold on the Red Sea, particularly the Bab el-Mandeb, one of the three Middle East chokepoints for shipping. While the Houthis have been able to hit ships since 2023, when the group launched a campaign against U.S. and Israeli-associated shipping in support of Palestine, the islands now provide the Houthis with the ability to see ships, Campbell University professor Sal Mercogliano
Marine traffic near the Perim Island chokepoint on Sept. 14, 2026. Marine Traffic map Fighting between the Houthis and Yemen’s National Government continued over the weekend after the Iranian-backed rebel group captured strategic points on the Red Sea.
The Houthis captured Mocha, Yemen, and Perim Island late last week, giving them a new stronghold on the Red Sea, particularly the Bab el-Mandeb, one of the three Middle East chokepoints for shipping.
While the Houthis have been able to hit ships since 2023, when the group launched a campaign against U.S. and Israeli-associated shipping in support of Palestine, the islands now provide the Houthis with the ability to see ships, Campbell University professor Sal Mercogliano told USNI News on Monday.
Being able to put eyes on ships means that Saudi ships will not be able to make dark transits as easily through the Red Sea. It also means less reaction time if the Houthis decide to launch missiles and drones from its new location. The Houthis launched a maritime blockade against the Saudi-linked ships in January.
Saudi Arabia had turned to its Red Sea port of Yanbu as an alternative route for oil after tensions rose in the Strait of Hormuz following the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran in late February. The Houthis’ push for Red Sea territories could force Saudi Arabia to require its Strait of Hormuz ports to get oil out, giving Iran a target for attacks, Mercogliano said.
In the Strait of Hormuz, Iran continues to attack ships, with one attack on Sept. 8, two on Sept. 9 and one on Saturday. One seafarer was killed while two are missing, according to the International Maritime Organization.
MT Riesco sinks in the Gulf of Oman on Sept. 8, 2026, after being destroyed by U.S. Central Command forces. US Central Command image U.S. Central Command has not announced any strikes on Iranian-linked ships since last Tuesday, when it struck five tankers.
Striking Iranian-linked tankers would be legal according to the Newport Manual on the Law of Naval Warfare, co-author James Kraska told USNI News last week.
The vessels become military targets because they are sustaining the war effort, Kraska said. The tankers would also be targets under the Pentagon’s own laws of war manual.
The same would apply to Russia and Ukraine, which have shot at each other’s ships that are helping to sustain the war, as well as targets on land, Kraska said.
Iran can also shoot at warships because they are military targets, Kraska said.
What is more complicated is the ships that the U.S. is providing some protection for, he said. While an argument could be made that the ships are helping the U.S. by getting oil out of the Persian Gulf, which would ultimately lower prices for the U.S., it would be a stretch, Kraska said. However, if the U.S. is putting the ships under convoy – a group of merchant ships under direction of a military ship – it would expose them to enemy fire, he said.
U.S sailors assigned to Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black (DDG-119) observe an F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103, preparing to land on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), dated June 29, 2026, and published July 10, 2026. US Navy photo It is unclear whether the ships are under a U.S. convoy. While the U.S. is providing protection, they are not escorting them, Mercogliano said.
The U.S. could also make the legal argument that ships that have paid Iran to allow them to sail through the Strait of Hormuz could be military targets because a toll would help Iran sustain its war effort, Kraska said.
But the U.S. does not have to target those ships just because they have paid a toll. CENTCOM has not specified if any of the ships stopped as part of the blockade are ones that have paid a toll to Tehran, and U.S. forces have not said if any vessels that have paid the toll have been targeted.
“What I would say is the law is the floor, not the ceiling,” Kraska said. “I think it’s lawful, and then the question is, ‘ok, but do you still want to do that?’ You don’t have to do everything just because it’s lawful.”
