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An Island In The Red Sea Changed Hands. Nobody Fought.
Perim island — also called Mayyun, about 13 square kilometres of rock sitting in the Bab al-Mandeb strait, splitting the shipping lane into two channels — changed hands on Friday. Government troops withdrew; there was no major battle.
The day before, Houthi forces had taken Mocha, the port city on the mainland coast. Most coverage has merged the two into one "chokepoint seized" headline. They are two places, two days.
And it is not a closure. A Houthi official said the group poses "no danger" to cargo routes, and their spokesman Yahya Saree exempted only Saudi-linked vessels from safe passage. What has been declared is a blockade pointed at one country.
It matters anyway, because of the other strait. Hormuz has been disrupted all year by the war with Iran, and Bab al-Mandeb was the way around it. Both are now compromised at the same time. Oil closed above $100 a barrel, the first time since mid-May.
Axios, citing two US officials, and Reuters, citing two sources familiar, report that the Saudi crown prince phoned President Trump twice on Thursday asking for American strikes, and that Trump declined — offering intelligence and targeting rather than firepower. Both accounts rest on anonymous sources; the White House and the Saudi embassy declined to comment.
The reporting
Verified 2026-09-11 by an independent check across Al Jazeera, Euronews, NBC, CNBC, CNN, NPR, The National, Axios and Reuters.
References
Reporting drawn from Al Jazeera · Reuters · Axios · NBC · CNBC · CNN · NPR · Euronews
What the reel says
Narration as scripted and voiced.
The island that sits in the middle of the Red Sea's narrowest gate changed hands on Friday. Nobody fought for it
It is called Perim or Mayun. Thirteen square kilometers of rock in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and it splits the shipping lane into two channels
Houthi forces took it after government troops withdrew. A day earlier, they had taken Mocha, the port city on the mainland coast
And here the coverage and the claim part company. A Houthi official said the group poses no danger to cargo routes, and their spokesman exempted only Saudi-linked vessels from safe passage
So this is not a closure. It is a blockade pointed at one country announced as such
The reason it still matters is the other strait. Hormuz has been disrupted all year by the war with Iran, and Bab al-Mandeb was the way around it. Both are now compromised at once
According to two US officials speaking to Axios and two sources who spoke to Reuters, the Saudi crown prince phoned President Trump twice on Thursday asking for American strikes. Trump declined. The United States is offering intelligence and targeting, not firepower
Oil closed above $100 a barrel, the first time since the middle of May
The strait did not fall to an assault. A government's position on it simply gave way and somebody else walked on
All footage is licensed stock. No wire pictures and no state media.
