Positioned directly across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait from Yemen, Eritrea—an East African nation with 700 miles of strategic Red Sea coastline—has publicly stated that the years-long conflict in Yemen can never be resolved through military means, and that no foreign power will ever succeed in bringing the Yemeni people under control.
In an exclusive interview with Middle East Eye conducted from Eritrea’s capital Asmara, Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh emphasized that Yemen must be given an opportunity to build lasting peace, noting that military action will not deliver the stability the region desperately needs.
Saleh’s comments come amid a dramatic shift in regional power dynamics: a rapid, sweeping Houthi offensive along Yemen’s Red Sea coast has left the group in full control of all Yemeni coastal territory opposite Eritrea and Djibouti, including a number of strategically vital islands in the strait. This territorial gain has upended long-standing calculations around Red Sea navigation and regional security.
One of the most pressing open questions for global trade and regional governance centers on how freedom of navigation through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait—one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints, connecting the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean via the Red Sea—will be managed moving forward. Saleh noted that all coastal states bordering the waterway should have a voice in determining its future governance, but that the current fragmented political landscape in Yemen creates a major barrier to collective action. Today, Yemen lacks a single cohesive, unified central government that can exercise full control over its territory, a reality Saleh made clear complicates every decision related to the strait. “Yemen is non-existent. The official government has no control. There is no ‘Yemen’,” he told MEE in the interview.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait has been a major global shipping and trade route for millennia, and it remains one of the most heavily used maritime corridors for global commerce today. With that strategic importance comes intense global interest, and Eritrea — which sits just 20 nautical miles from Yemen at the strait’s narrowest point alongside Djibouti — recognizes its unique responsibility, Saleh said. “Eritrea is in a very strategic position. We have a responsibility to safeguard the Red Sea to be a safe passage for all,” he stated.
Regional diplomats have outlined two core strategic implications of the Houthi advance: First, control of the strait gives Iran greater diplomatic and military leverage over the United States and Gulf Arab states. Second, the territorial gain puts commercial transiting vessels within range of basic Houthi artillery, putting the group in a position to demand tolls for passage through the waterway. Prior to the offensive, MEE reporting indicates the Houthis already demanded fees from Saudi Arabia for transit.
With the Houthis now controlling the Arabian Peninsula side of the strait, Eritrea’s Red Sea coastline has grown even more critical to global shipping networks. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), coastal nations can claim up to 12 nautical miles of territorial water, and while international law enshrines the right of free transit through international straits, some legal experts note that littoral states retain the right to charge legitimate fees for services like pilotage, infrastructure maintenance, and environmental protection.
When asked whether Eritrea planned to follow recent discussions of transit tolls in other strategic waterways like the Strait of Hormuz, Saleh pushed back on assumptions. “This is a new idea, a new concept. Because Iran raised it [in the Strait of Hormuz] doesn’t mean Eritrea will ask,” he said. That said, Saleh reaffirmed the need for collective dialogue between all coastal states to formalize rules that protect free passage for all vessels. “[But] there should be a discussion among littoral states and a decision how to ensure free passage. If Yemen is non-existent, we can’t speak with it now about these issues,” he added.
Another senior Eritrean official, who spoke to MEE on condition of anonymity, echoed the foreign ministry’s stance on Yemen and expanded on Eritrea’s view of broader regional tensions. The official noted that Eritrea understands the security of the Red Sea is inherently tied to the ongoing escalating confrontation between the United States, Israel and Iran. “The Bab el-Mandeb and Strait of Hormuz are together,” the official said, framing the two strategic chokepoints as interconnected nodes in a single regional security architecture. Echoing Saleh’s comments on foreign intervention, the official added that no external power—whether from inside the Middle East or beyond—will ever be able to subdue the Yemeni people through military force.