Iran’s Houthi allies capture strategic island on vital oil shipping route

Rampant Yemeni rebels take control of island in narrow point of Bab al-Mandab strait, which Saudi is relying on for oil exports

• Violence in Yemen: why it matters and how it is linked to the US-Iran war

Yemen’s rampant Houthi forces have captured a strategic island in the Bab al-Mandab strait, expanding their control of the narrow waterway, one of the ​world’s vital shipping routes.

The Iran-aligned Houthis took control of the volcanic island after forces allied to the UN-backed, Aden-based government left in the latest of a dramatic series of reverses along Yemen’s west coast in recent days, including the loss of the port city of Mocha on Thursday.