Yemeni government forces advance towards Bab el-Mandeb Strait - Reuters

Investing.com - Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces has taken key positions near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, as part of a fight to reverse territorial gains made by Iran-backed Houthi militants, Reuters reported on Monday.

Citing government and military sources, Reuters reported that the government forces assumed control over the Dhubab district overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb and are looking to assert their dominance over other areas thanks to air support from a Saudi-led coalition.

Houthi-aligned media sources, however, denied the claims that Yemeni government forces had made advances.

Over the weekend, Yemen's government said it had launched the military offensive on the Houthis, with Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi said in a televised address that the assault would continue until "the country is liberated from the grip of the terrorist militia."

Despite attacks from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their Western allies, the Houthis currently control a number of populated areas in Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and territory in the northwest. Crucially, recent advances have given the Houthis leverage over the Bab el-Mandeb, a shipping chokepoint linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.

Worries have abounded that the Houthi presence over the Bab el-Mandeb will further dent Middle East oil flows, which have already been crimped by Iran's effective shuttering of the nearby Strait of Hormuz. However, media reports have indicated that some supplies are making it out of the region.

Iran, for its part, has stressed that the Strait of Hormuz will not be unblocked until seven of its conditions laid out in a June interim agreement with the U.S. are met.

On Sunday, Iran's parliament speaker said the position of the Islamic Republic is "completely clear and firm," adding that Washington "must understand that the period of dragging out the [diplomatic] process and dictating one-sided demands is over."

At the United Nations General Assembly in September, Tehran reportedly offered to reopen Hormuz and restore normal maritime passage within seven days in exchange for meeting its conditions. The U.S. replied to the proposal last week through Qatari mediators, but the substance of that response remains uncertain.

Qatar has been serving as a frequent messenger and moderator between the U.S. and Iran, pushing to find a diplomatic resolution to a war which began with a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran in late February. Tehran moved to shut down the Strait of Hormuz shortly after the assault started, cutting off a key waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas traversed before the conflict.

Original Article

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