Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen seized the strategic island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Friday, two Yemeni government sources confirmed to CNN. This potentially expands Tehran's influence over another key global maritime trade route.
A day earlier, the Houthi movement seized the port city of Moha in a bid to establish control over the country's Red Sea coast.
The news has sparked global concern over the potential implications for global shipping and oil prices, as well as the risk of opening a new front in the US-Iran war.
The Bab el-Mandeb is a geopolitical "narrow passage" (a key transport artery) connecting Asia and Europe via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. While less critical to oil trade than the Strait of Hormuz, it is essential for the movement of goods around the world, including millions of barrels of oil per day.
Its strategic importance has grown since the start of the US-Iran war, as Saudi Arabia has increasingly used its Red Sea export route to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed to most shipping.
The developments coincide with a broader regional escalation in the Iran-US war, after Tehran warned this week that it would step up military action against the United States, which maintains a strict naval blockade of Iran and continues to carry out military strikes on the country.