Exclusive: Egypt, Houthis Hold Talks on Keeping Bab al-Mandab Open

Egyptian officials have held direct contacts with Yemen’s Houthi movement, Ansar Allah, seeking assurances that the Bab al-Mandab Strait will remain open to commercial shipping amid the latest escalation in Yemen.

Cairo had warned that any closure or disruption of the strategic waterway would inflict further damage on Egypt’s already strained economy, which has suffered heavily from the decline in Red Sea shipping since Houthi attacks on commercial vessels began in late 2023.

Mohammed al-Farah, a member of Ansar Allah’s political bureau, confirmed that the group had been in contact with Egyptian officials. Farah said the discussions were part of broader Houthi outreach to regional and international parties aimed at explaining the objectives of the group’s current military operations in Yemen and offering assurances that they were not directed against neighboring states or international maritime traffic.

According to Farah, the Houthis have sought to communicate that the current escalation is limited in scope and is not intended to threaten the interests of other countries.

“We have no intention of attacking any country in our Arab, regional or international surroundings,” al-Farah said. “We carried out this operation in order to confront the military buildups of the Saudi enemy, which are part of the aggression against our country and one of the instruments of the blockade imposed upon it.”

The Houthi speaker offered an explicit assurance regarding the Bab al-Mandab, one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints and a critical route connecting the Red Sea and the Suez Canal with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

“Through you, we would like to send a message of reassurance to our brothers in the Arab Republic of Egypt, to all the states bordering the Red Sea, and to maritime shipping and international trade as a whole,” he said. “Bab al-Mandab will remain open to everyone. Shipping traffic will pass through it smoothly and regularly, and we have no other objectives in this regard.”

Cairo had conveyed to the Houthis that any attempt to close the strait would be viewed as directly damaging Egyptian national interests.

Egypt has been among the countries most economically affected by the deterioration in Red Sea security. The diversion of commercial vessels away from the Bab al-Mandab and Suez Canal has sharply reduced traffic through the canal, depriving Cairo of one of its most important sources of foreign currency.

Houthi representatives told the Egyptian side that the movement understood the sensitivity of Egypt’s position and had no intention of harming the interests of the Egyptian people.

The exchange suggests that, despite the widening military confrontation in Yemen, both sides are seeking to keep the Bab al-Mandab and Egypt’s economic interests insulated from the latest round of fighting.