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Yemen is at risk of spiraling back into all-out war as Houthi forces and Saudi Arabia exchange new strikes amid a fight over control of the key Bab el-Mandeb strait through which much of Saudi oil passes on its way to world markets. The Houthis, the Iran-allied force also known as Ansarallah, has seized Yemen’s entire Red Sea coastline from the Saudi-backed Yemeni government. The United Nations says the latest escalation has displaced 86,000 people in Yemen as the U.S. war on Iran continues to wrack the Middle East and raise oil prices around the world.

“What’s happening right now is essentially a break in the ceasefire between Ansarallah … and Saudi Arabia,” says Shireen Al-Adeimi, a Yemeni American associate professor at Michigan State University. “This ceasefire has been in place since 2022, but it has not ended the war in Yemen.”

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, Democracynow.org, the War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

Fear is growing — Yemen spiraling back into all-out war as Houthi forces and Saudi Arabia exchange new strikes. Earlier today, the Houthis claim to have launched a drone and missile strike on a military base in southern Saudi Arabia. This comes after the Houthis, who are aligned with Iran, seized Yemen’s entire Red Sea coastline including the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The area had been controlled by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government. In recent days, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly launched airstrikes in Yemen in an effort to stall the Houthi advance. The U.N. says the latest escalation has displaced 86,000 people in Yemen. This all comes as Saudi Arabia shut down its major east-west pipeline after a drone strike launched from inside Iraq. It moves about 4% to 5% of the world’s global supply, oil supply.

Oil Prices Soar to New Heights as Houthis Seize Yemen’s Red Sea Coastline

To look at the escalating tensions between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, we go now to........

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