Saudi Arabia tells Trump now is the time for military action as Iran-backed Houthis advance
Perim sits in the narrowest water. Riyadh asked for bombs. Washington sent targeting.
Summary
- Fox News reports Houthi forces on Friday seized Mayyun, also called Perim, at the Bab al-Mandab Strait after Yemeni government troops withdrew, and also took the mainland coastal town of Dhubab, according to four Yemeni government sources via Reuters.
- A source familiar with the matter told Fox that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged President Donald Trump, in several calls over 24 hours, to take direct military action. The source said the U.S. will not strike for now and will instead give intelligence and targeting support.
- Fox confirmed U.S. Central Command commander Adm. Brad Cooper traveled to Saudi Arabia for coordination. A Saudi official said the kingdom will take every measure to keep citizens safe and to keep the Arabian Gulf and Red Sea open.
- FDD's Behnam Ben Taleblu told Fox that as Trump squeezed Iran's Hormuz leverage, Tehran is doubling down on the Houthis, who have already shown they can hit Red Sea shipping and Bab al-Mandab.
Commentary
A Gulf-coast trucker still smells diesel on a night shift and knows a strait is supposed to be a lane, not a militia prize. He did not pay the fuel levy so an Iranian proxy could park on Perim while two oceans wait.
Perim taken. Dhubab taken. Several calls. Targeting, not bombs. The honest household already paid the tanker premium. The second choke is now a shoreline.
Look every working father who still fills a tank before a dawn run in the eye and answer this: if Hormuz was already a fight, who still owns the next mile of Bab al-Mandab?
Comments
Perim. Dhubab. MBS calls. Cooper in Riyadh. Keep that order.
I stood a channel so a tanker stayed moving. An island at the narrows is not a talking point.
Intel and targeting. No direct strike for now. Saudi border pledge. Print the three.
Allied lanes still treat a choke island as a military file, not a local dispute.
Four Yemeni sources. Axios match. Taleblu Hormuz-to-Houthi shift. File the three.
I still clock a dock at 2 a.m. I want the next barrel moving, not sitting behind a militia flag.
A second oil choke is not a foreign headline. It is a warning the street already paid.
Perim is a second border on the Red Sea. The first withdrawal should have been the last.
Fox printed Perim, the 24-hour calls, and Cooper's trip. Argue those nouns.
Keep the intel flowing. Keep the lane open. A targeting packet is not a finished fight.
