By Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg

The author says Iran and the Houthis restarted coordinated strikes after an August lull, aiming to squeeze both Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab: U.S. action against launchers on Larak Island, Iranian attacks on Gulf shipping, and Houthi pressure on Mokha and the Red Sea coast.

He ties the Houthis’ July break with Yemen’s government to an IRGC-linked Mahan Air flight to Sanaa and later Tehran talks, then to renewed attacks on Saudi cities (73 injured) and government-held Yemen as Iran’s Gulf fighting resumed.

Pakistan, the UN, GCC, OIC, Arab League, and the U.S. condemned the Saudi strikes; Brent topped $101. The piece urges aid to Yemen’s government so the Houthis cannot sit over Bab al-Mandab and halt a route that carries more than 10% of world trade.

Coordinated attacks by Iran and its Houthi proxy resumed last week after a lull in the fighting during August. The apparent objective is to control both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab Al-Mandab Strait. Iran resumed attacks on shipping in the Gulf and the Houthis renewed their attacks on Saudi Arabia and parts of Yemen held by the internationally recognized government. The Yemeni government is trying to stop the Houthis’ march and it needs genuine support from the international community.

For days, the Houthis have besieged forces loyal to the government in the coastal city of Mokha, about 180km south of Hodeidah and 80km north of Bab Al-Mandab. It would be a major setback if the news about the fall of Mokha is confirmed, making it even more urgent to support the government in reversing Houthi advances and denying them access to the coastal area facing the strait and the hills overlooking it.

The hostilities resumed on Aug. 30, when the US said it had targeted two Iranian launchers on Larak Island after observing Iranian forces preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines toward the Strait of Hormuz. Iran subsequently attacked neighboring countries and ships crossing the strait — a drill Tehran has perfected since the start of the war in February.

On Sept. 2, Mohsen Rezaei, Iran’s new security chief, announced a “new strategy.” In a post on X, he wrote: “You will soon witness that Iran’s new........

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