‘These waters aren’t safe’: New oil supply fears as Houthis seize key island, Saudi pipeline attacked

Aden/Dubai: Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis reached the strategic island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, four Yemeni government sources said, moving to tighten their grip on a vital global shipping route in the widening Middle East war.

Meanwhile, the vital East-West oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia, which has helped relieve the logjam in the Strait of Hormuz, was temporarily shut down by a drone attack coming from Iraq, Saudi officials said. This put further pressure on Gulf oil flows at a time when diplomatic efforts to ease war have stalled.

If the Houthis can gain control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz, their backer Iran could gain a critical advantage in its war with the US, reducing supplies through a second major corridor and further raising oil prices.

The New York Times reported that since the war began at the end of February, at least 22 sailors had been killed in the Middle East. “These waters aren’t safe,” said Michelle Wiese Bockmann, an analyst at Windward, a maritime intelligence company.

The Houthi attacks could represent a dangerous escalation. Sources said Saudi Arabia has asked Washington for military help at a time when higher fuel prices during the war have tarnished US President Donald Trump and his Republican Party politically ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Two sources from the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised Yemeni government said its forces had pulled out of Perim and that the Houthis had also taken the mainland Red Sea coastal town of Dhubab, which faces the island.

The war began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran six months ago. Hormuz, conduit for about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade, was effectively closed. Since then, Saudi Arabia – the world’s largest oil exporter and a close US ally – has relied on the Red Sea route. Gulf states, industry sources and Trump have discussed pipeline expansion as one possible workaround.

Existing pipeline capacity was shut down temporarily after several attacks on the East-West pipeline in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and Medina regions, state media reported, citing a source at the Saudi energy ministry.

It remained unclear who carried out the attack. Saudi Arabia said only that the drones came from Iraq, which is home to Iranian-backed militias.

Saudi Arabia has opted against retaliation so far following a request from the Iraqi prime minister, the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement. The kingdom reserves the right to “take all measures necessary” to protect its interests, the statement said. Iraq’s government condemned attacks.

The 1200-kilometre pipeline is the key alternative route for Saudi oil to reach global markets, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.