SAN FRANCISCO
Lee Heidhues 9.11.2026
It’s fair to say that Americans are ignorant about the geopolitics of the Middle East.
The blogger is belatedly following the Houthis though my attention was there when Trump launched his air campaign in 2025. Now the problem is more serious and the MSM is paying attention.
It should be evident that the average American news consumer is out to lunch when it comes to matters outside the USA. Trump’s war of choice against Iran only got attention because of prices at the pump. Perhaps now the Houthis taking over Bab-al Mandeb through which 11 percent of global oil passes will be another Strait of Hormuz in the American body politic.
Trump’s war of choice against Iran nearing the seven month mark has woken up the geopolitically clueless American public. If only because prices at the pump have skyrocketed since February 28th 2026.
In the past couple of days another Middle East hot spot has bubbled to the surface which is further inflaming the cauldron and will escalate energy prices as the following Al Jazeera report illustrates.
The group known as the Houthis, well known in the Middle East, have captured the country of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline. Giving them effective control of 11 percent of the World’s global oil trade. This comes on top of the Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz with control of 27 percent of the global oil trade. A combined 38 percent total. A lot of barrels of oil.
Excerpted from Al Jazeera 9.11.2026
Houthi forces Houthi-controlled Yemen – Wikipedia have captured the whole of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline, reaching all the way to the critically important Bab al-Mandeb shipping gateway, as the group’s rapid offensive continued on Friday.
Since January 2010 during the Houthi insurgency,[1][2][3] the Houthis, a Zaydi Shia revivalist political and military organization, have maintained de facto governance over significant portions of northern and western Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa since 2014. Their administration, the Supreme Political Council, operates in opposition to the internationally recognized government of Yemen.[4][5][6] The Houthis aim to govern all of Yemen and support external movements against the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.[7] Because of the Houthis’ ideological background, the conflict in Yemen is widely seen as a front of the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy war.[8]
On Thursday, the Houthis seized the port city of Mocha, Mokha – Wikipedia dealing a heavy blow to the Yemeni government backed by neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
Mokha (Arabic: المَخا, romanized: al-Maḵā), also spelled Mocha or Mukha,[1] is a port city on the Red Sea coast of Yemen. Until Aden and al Hudaydah eclipsed it in the 19th century, Mokha was the principal port for Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. Long known for its coffee trade, the city gave its name to Mocha coffee.[2]
Analysts are calling the Iran-backed Houthi group’s victories the most significant regional development since the US and Israel declared war on Iran in February.
The offensives could be particularly damaging for Saudi Arabia and its oil exports. The Houthis, who declared a blockade of Saudi-flagged ships in the Red Sea earlier in the year, now have a much firmer control of the Bab al-Mandeb waterway, which Riyadh increasingly relies on for oil exports following blockades of the the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf, experts say.
But can the Houthis control the Red Sea?
Here’s what we know:
In July, amidst the US-Israel war on Iran, the Houthis announced a complete maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia and began launching attacks on Saudi-linked ships passing through the important Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
The narrow strait is one of the world’s most important shipping lanes connecting the Suez Canal and Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Roughly 12 percent of global trade passes through daily.
Even more vessels have used it since Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s energy supplies used to transit annually before the war began in February.
Lee's Perspective 