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The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have made sweeping gains along Yemen's Red Sea coast after conducting a large-scale military operation aimed at controlling the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Because of these territorial claims, Iran and its Houthi proxies can now threaten, if not entirely block, oil and other shipments through two key maritime chokepoints, Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Strait of Hormuz.
The Houthis have threatened the Red Sea before, firing missiles and drones at transiting ships in solidarity with Palestinians during Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip. The attacks resulted in U.S.-led strikes in Yemen against the Houthis in 2024 and 2025. Here's what you need to know about the Houthi rebels:
Who are the Houthi terrorists?
Formerly known as Ansar Allah, or the "partisans of G od," the Houthis are a rebel movement that took control of Yemen's capital in 2014. After deposing the U.S.-allied government in Sanaa, the Houthis forced President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia.
This triggered a years-long civil war that pushed Yemen to the brink of famine, contributing to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis, according to the U.N. Development Program. It ended with a fragile truce in 2022.
The civil war pitted the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels against Saudi-backed government forces supported by a coalition of mostly Arab nations in the Persian Gulf region. The United States provided military support to the Saudi-led coalition, before distancing itself from the conflict because of reports of human rights violations.
Beyond Yemen's borders, the Houthis have targeted adversaries with missiles and drones, including attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure, which the Houthis say are retaliation for a campaign of deadly Saudi airstrikes.
Peace efforts became complicated when the Houthis began launching attacks on ships traversing the Red Sea, in what they said was retaliation for Israel's military offensive in Gaza.
The Houthis now control the majority of Yemen's north.
What do the Houthis want in the Red Sea?
For the first five months of the war in Iran, the Houthis mostly sat on the sidelines as the nation weathered attacks by the United States and Israel. But the Houthis said last month that they were frustrated with what they called a blockade by Saudi Arabia and resumed fighting with the U.S. ally. The Houthis launched attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure and announced a blockade of its ships transiting the Red Sea.
They have ramped up a ground offensive on the coast in recent days, and from their northern Yemen stronghold are advancing south, pushing Saudi-backed forces from strategic territory around the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
In their ground offensive, the Houthis captured the key port city of Mokha on Thursday, and Perim Island and the Yemeni coastal town of Dhubab by Friday.
The Houthis' goal is to "lift the siege on our people and on the local population," said Housam Al Assad, a member of the group's political bureau.
Pro-Houthi commentator Hussain al-Bukhaiti, whose brother is a senior political officer in the group, said Houthi demands include free movement at Yemen's ports and airports, the exchange of all prisoners of war and the use of Yemen's oil revenue — much of which is under Saudi control — to pay the salaries of civil servants and services across the country.
A Yemeni official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, told The Washington Post the Houthi fighters were being closely directed by Iranians on the ground and appeared to have prepared the operation in Yemen for months.
Some 8.7 percent of global seaborne trade passes through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, including 15 percent of oil products, making it one of the busiest chokepoints for maritime transport, according to 2023 figures published by the United Nations.
With the Strait of Hormuz blocked by Iran, the Bab al-Mandab has become even more critical for the global flow of energy and goods. The dual threat might allow Iran to use multiple fronts to ramp up pressure on Washington.
Alongside the Houthi offensive, a key Saudi Arabian pipeline to the Red Sea was shut down Friday after it was hit by "several drones".
No specific group has taken credit for the attack, and President Donald Trump said Iran was "probably" responsible.
Friday was "the first day that Iran really started winning the war," one Yemeni official, who is part of the country's internationally recognized, Saudi-backed government, told The Post.
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