Egypt has formed a crisis team to monitor developments around the Bab al-Mandab Strait after Houthi forces reached the strategically located Yemeni island of Mayyun, an informed Egyptian source has told The New Arab.
Mayyun, also known as Perim, lies at the southern entrance to Bab al-Mandab, one of the world's most important shipping chokepoints, connecting the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea and, further north, the Suez Canal.
The Egyptian source said Cairo was concerned about the potential impact of the latest military developments on shipping in the Red Sea and traffic through the Suez Canal, a major source of revenue for Egypt.
The crisis team was established urgently after Egyptian authorities received reports of developments around the strait and was continuing to assess the situation, the source said.
Egypt believes the latest development represents a different type of threat from previous Houthi attacks on shipping, which have largely involved missiles and drones.
The source said the movement of fighting to territory immediately surrounding Bab al-Mandab had changed the nature of the risk.
Cairo had activated existing channels of communication with the Houthis to establish what was happening on the ground, clarify the objectives behind their movements and determine whether they were linked to the wider regional escalation, the source added.
Egypt was also in contact with the United States, Saudi Arabia and Iran in an attempt to contain the situation and prevent developments in Yemen from becoming a sustained threat to Red Sea shipping.
The source said Cairo had warned against further escalation because of the strategic importance of Bab al-Mandab.
Egypt viewed security in the strait as directly connected to its own national security and to the operation of the Suez Canal, rather than simply as a Yemeni or regional issue, the source said.
“The central message” in Cairo's diplomatic contacts was the need to prevent escalation and preserve the security of navigation, according to the source.
The source warned that turning Bab al-Mandab into a direct arena of confrontation between regional and international powers would have repercussions far beyond Yemen, potentially affecting the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and the global economy.
Former Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister Mohamed Hegazy told The New Arab that the Houthi advance towards Bab al-Mandab, including their arrival in Dhubab and Mayyun, represented a significant change in the Red Sea security environment.
He said the significance of the development went beyond the capture of territory inside Yemen because of Bab al-Mandab's role in international shipping.
The narrow strait forms a key part of the sea route linking the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean with the Red Sea and Suez Canal.
Hegazy said the Houthi presence in such strategically sensitive areas increased the risks for commercial shipping and could give the group greater leverage over maritime traffic without requiring it to formally close the strait.
An increase in the perceived security risk alone could affect decisions by shipping companies and insurers and prompt changes to international trade routes, he said.
Hegazy warned that continued fighting close to Bab al-Mandab risked accelerating the militarisation of important maritime routes and further destabilising regional trade and energy flows.
The warning comes as several strategically important waterways in the region are already facing heightened tensions.
Egypt has particular concerns because disruption at Bab al-Mandab can directly affect traffic heading north through the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal.
Sustained disruption could therefore have consequences both for global trade and Egypt's economy, Hegazy said.
He argued that protecting the Red Sea required greater co-ordination among countries bordering it, as well as efforts to strengthen the stability of states along the maritime route.
Strategic locations in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden should not be turned into instruments of regional rivalry, he added.
Hegazy said any response should not rely solely on military measures, but should also involve diplomatic and political efforts to prevent the war in Yemen from expanding.
The priority, he said, should be to maintain freedom of navigation and prevent Bab al-Mandab from becoming an open arena of conflict threatening both regional security and the global economy.