The Iran-backed Houthi rebel group on Thursday took over Yemen's port city of Mokha, an area vital to controlling shipping through the Red Sea, Houthi and Yemeni officials said. Mokha is about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a waterway that connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and through which about 12% of the world's goods are typically shipped. The Bab el-Mandeb's importance to global oil supplies has grown since shipping through the nearby Strait of Hormuz has been impeded by Iran during its war with the United States and Israel. The Houthis kept mostly to the sidelines during the initial, heavy phase of the Iran war, but over the summer they increased attacks against Yemen's internationally recognized government and declared a blockade on Saudi Arabia, which supports it.