It’s getting messy in Arabia….
The Houthis have seized the strategic port of Mocha, bringing the Islamic Republic’s most powerful remaining proxy dangerously closer to the Bab al-Mandab chokepoint. Over the past 48 hours, Houthi forces have rapidly pushed south along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, taking Hays, Al-Khawkhah, Al-Wazi’iyah, Mawza, the Khalid ibn al-Walid camp and Mocha, while Saudi-backed Yemeni forces retreated toward Dhubab, much closer to the strait.
⚓ Mocha dramatically improves the Houthis’ position on the Red Sea.
The port sits roughly 60–75 km north of Bab al-Mandab. Consolidating Mocha gives the Houthis another coastal position and brings them closer to Dhubab and Perim Island, directly overlooking one of the world’s most important shipping arteries.
✈️ Saudi Arabia has enormous airpower, but has so far stopped short of fully committing it to the coastal battle. Saudi aircraft have conducted strikes across Yemen, but air support has been intermittent and poorly integrated with the forces actually trying to hold the Hays–Al-Khawkhah–Mocha line.
When Houthi drones, missiles and ground forces applied pressure, the line collapsed.
Yemen’s Houthis seize strategic city of Mocha in ‘stunning’ blow
- Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels are rapidly advancing along the Red Sea coast threatening to gain more leverage over the crucial Bab el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s most important trade routes.
- The Houthis report about 40 air strikes were launched by Saudi Arabia in a new salvo following their attacks on oil facilities and civilian infrastructure deep inside the kingdom.
- Projectiles hit several areas in Iran’s southern Sirik district with multiple explosions heard across the coastal region as oil prices hold at $100 a barrel with no end in sight to the war.
- US President Donald Trump claims the ongoing war with Iran will end immediately after the US November midterm elections and predicts oil prices will then quickly decline.
Trump says Iran talks ‘could happen’, claims war to end after US elections
U.S. Strikes Iranian Tankers, Iran Attacks Jordan, Oil Surges Past $100
🚨 Every time the Islamic Republic tries to hit the U.S. Navy, it will lose more of the oil tankers keeping its collapsing economy alive.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Iran will lose tankers every time it tries to attack U.S. Navy ships, laying out a brutal cost for every… pic.twitter.com/O80j8fVk58
— The Iran Watcher (@TheIranWatcher) September 8, 2026
US forces target Iranian tankers as IRGC retaliates with Jordan base attack
- The US military says it has destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers following Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ballistic missile attacks on a US Navy warship.
- In response to the US attacks, the IRGC said it attacked a base in Jordan hosting US troops.
- IRGC navy units also warned oil tanker crews in Kuwait and Bahrain to leave their vessels, threatening to strike ships in the area.
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned Tehran that Washington will continue to strike Iranian oil tankers in retaliation for attempted attacks on US warships.
- The US has announced sanctions on 27 Iranian airlines and warned companies against doing business with them.
- The US State Department says the United States will not relent in its economic campaign against Iran after sanctioning 36 entities connected to the Iranian government’s aviation sector.
- Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has dismissed the latest US sanctions, stating the United States resorts to more penalties after failing to achieve its war goals.
- The US embassy in Yemen says the Houthis must bear the consequences of their aggression, stating that the group started the ongoing conflict.
The war in Yemen is threatening to open a new front as the Iran-allied Houthi rebels are trying to advance along the Red Sea coast, through the mountain chains of Taiz province, edging closer to strategic ground that overlooks one of the world’s most vital maritime arteries.
For the internationally recognised Yemeni government, this is an offensive with global consequences.
Update”
- Projectiles have hit several areas in Iran’s Sirik, with multiple explosions heard across the coastal region, including Minab County and Qeshm Island, Iranian state media report.
Rubio vows to ‘strangle’ Iran economically
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said US forces will continue to target Iranian oil tankers in retaliation for attacks on their warships, adding that Washington aims to “strangle” Tehran economically.
“At the end of the day, they continue to fire at our naval ships, and when they fire at our naval ships, they pay a price in tankers,” Rubio told reporters. “They lose a lot of tankers, they don’t hit our ships, but they lose five tankers.”