Yemen's Naval Conflict and Global Oil Impact

Yemen's navy is taking us to Perim Island, the

heart of a little-known local war that's getting

pulled into America's war with Iran.

So what happens here next could affect us more than the Iran

war already has. These islands, this

vital waterway, the price of oil, it is all

vulnerable right now, and what happens here could

impact President Trump's political

fortunes. In recent weeks, Iran-backed Houthis

have hit several Saudi oil tankers on these waters.

They're a bypass to the Strait of Hormuz.

As we find out, Houthis are a constant threat here.

Suddenly, we just had to turn around.

We're told it's because drones have been reported in the

air. This is a hot war, and this is one of the epicenters of

that war. Our second attempt getting

closer. This here that you're looking at out

across the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the narrowest

point on that Red Sea, those ships out there,

that's what this is all about, commercial shipping

critical for the global economy.

Eventually, we make it and greeted by Yemeni government

forces keeping the vital waterway open.

Not many outsiders make it here. We're the first

international journalists they've seen in years, but we're not

gonna have long. The Houthi drone is still a threat.

And it looks for all the world like the place

that time forgot. It is really stuck out here in the middle of

the ocean. Looking out across the ocean this way.

Bab al-Mandab. Yeah.

Yeah. Bab al-Mandab.

Bab al-Mandab.

Bab al-Mandab. And looking across out there-

Bab al-Mandab

... you can see Africa across there.

Djibouti literally just across the sea there.

Perim is at the strait's narrowest point, just 12

miles from Africa. Since Iran blocked shipping in the Strait

of

Hormuz, Saudi diverted its oil exports through the

Red

Sea, helping keep global oil prices down.

10% of global oil used to flow through here.

It's down to about

less than half of that or about half of that now.

And if the Houthis get control of the Red Sea, if the Iranian proxies

or Houthis get control of the Red Sea-

That's right

... they could shut the oil flows here down,

down to almost nothing.

What we don't see on our short visit is a military force that

measures up to the scale of what's at stake for the rest of

the world. For the commander in charge of this

region,

that's a worry. 'Cause the Houthis would try to kill you,

right?

The Iranians would love to have you dead.

So many, so many times.

So many times. I know.

Vice President Tariq Saleh is a rarity at the moment, a

political leader still in Yemen and still fighting the

Houthis.

We told the world that this is an

Iranian plan, but no one listened to Yemenis back then,

that this is a

battle that would not only affect Yemen but the national community.

Th- this is Iran trying to put pressure on

President Trump.

Exactly.

Are you getting any support from the United States?

Just talk.

Just talk.

Yeah.

How do you feel about that?

Disappointed he says.

Nick Robertson, CNN, in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.