DUBAI | China has privately asked Iran to use its influence over Yemen’s Houthi movement to help curb the group’s escalating military campaign, following an appeal from Saudi Arabia as fighting around the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait raises new risks for regional security, oil exports and global shipping.
Three Iranian sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Beijing made the request to Tehran after Saudi Arabia sought China’s help in containing the Houthis, whose recent advances along Yemen’s Red Sea coast have brought the Iran-backed group closer to controlling critical maritime routes.
The development places China in a delicate diplomatic position. Beijing has maintained relations with both Saudi Arabia and Iran and has publicly called for restraint, dialogue and the restoration of safe navigation, while its intervention also reflects the importance of stable energy supplies and shipping routes to the Chinese economy.
The Houthis have made rapid territorial gains in Yemen during the past week, including advances toward the Bab el-Mandeb, a narrow waterway connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Reuters reported that the group’s advance has increased the exposure of Saudi oil exports and commercial shipping to attacks.
The escalation is taking place against the wider backdrop of the war involving Iran, Israel and the United States. Fighting in Yemen has emerged as another major theatre, with Saudi Arabia conducting airstrikes against Houthi positions while the Houthis have launched missiles and drones toward Saudi targets.
Saudi Arabia has also sought assistance from other countries as its missile-defense resources come under pressure. The Associated Press reported that Riyadh has approached regional and Western partners, including France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt, for military assistance, while diplomatic efforts have continued to prevent the conflict from expanding further.
The immediate security concerns are closely tied to energy and maritime trade. The Houthis’ capture of strategic positions around the Bab el-Mandeb gives the group greater leverage over one of the world’s important shipping corridors. Reuters reported that the conflict has already contributed to disruptions affecting global energy supplies, while fighting has also placed additional pressure on oil markets.
The current crisis marks another major turn in a conflict that has shaped Yemen and the wider Middle East for more than a decade. The Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, emerged from northern Yemen and seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, forcing the internationally recognized government from power. Saudi Arabia intervened militarily in March 2015 at the head of an Arab coalition seeking to restore that government and prevent an Iran-aligned movement from consolidating power along the kingdom’s southern border.
A United Nations-brokered truce in 2022 significantly reduced large-scale fighting, although it did not resolve the underlying political conflict. The Houthis subsequently expanded their regional profile, particularly after launching attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023. The attacks prompted military responses from the United States and Britain and disrupted an important international trade route.
China’s latest intervention therefore comes as the Houthi movement has evolved from a predominantly Yemeni armed group into a regional actor capable of affecting international maritime traffic and energy markets. Reuters reported separately that the group’s recent advance has brought the Bab el-Mandeb under its control, significantly increasing the strategic consequences of the fighting.
For Beijing, Riyadh and Tehran, the immediate challenge is containing the conflict without allowing the fighting in Yemen to further disrupt already vulnerable oil supplies and shipping routes. Whether Iran can or will use its influence over the Houthis to restrain their operations remains uncertain, and Reuters said Tehran had not publicly confirmed the reported Chinese request.
Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
