# The Houthis just took the Red Sea's front door

> A rebel seizure of one small island puts 12% of world trade and Saudi Arabia's oil workaround in play.
- Title: The Houthis just took the Red Sea's front door · NPR
- Summary: A rebel seizure of one small island puts 12% of world trade and Saudi Arabia's oil workaround in play. With Hormuz already disrupted, the Red Sea was Saudi…
- Keywords: yemen, red sea, shipping, oil, houthis, news, just, took, Red, Sea's, front, door
- Source: NPR — https://npr.org/2026/09/12/g-s1-143044/yemens-houthis-capture-red-sea-island
- Published: 2026-09-12T00:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: yemen, red sea, shipping, oil, houthis, news
## Rebels seize Mayun island
Iranian-backed Houthi fighters captured Mayun, the island sitting at the entrance to the Red Sea. Officials on both sides confirmed it anonymously, not being cleared to speak.
## Why this rock matters
About 12% of the world's goods normally move through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the Red Sea's southern end. Mayun sits right at that chokepoint.
## Saudi Arabia's backup plan
With Iran hitting ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea became the alternative route for Saudi oil. Now the rebels control its doorway.
## Safe for everyone but Saudis
Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree drew a line around who gets through. Markets did not relax, and analysts call the group hard to predict.

> maritime navigation is safe for all companies except for Saudi vessels
## The U.N. cleared out
Houthi forces in Mokha took a compound that had housed U.N. staff. Everyone got out before the city fell, and no U.N. personnel remain there.

> no U.N. personnel remain in Mokha right now
## A pipeline goes dark
Saudi Arabia shut its East-West pipeline as a precaution after attacks. That line carried the exports that kept flowing once Hormuz seized up.
## The attacks came from Iraq
Baghdad traced the strikes on Saudi Arabia to a site in Maysan province. The prime minister fired the provincial operations commander and ordered an investigation.
## Exports had already doubled
The IEA says Saudi oil moving through the Red Sea port at the pipeline's end more than doubled after the U.S. and Israel struck Iran on Feb. 28.
## Missiles built with chatbots
Anthropic banned users in Houthi-held northern Yemen who used its models for precision, ballistic and hypersonic missile work, some from ordinary smartphones. No weapon was fielded.

> steers and stabilizes a flying vehicle
## Key takeaway

With Hormuz already disrupted, the Red Sea was Saudi Arabia's backup route. Losing control of its entrance leaves the kingdom's exports with no easy detour.