Iran-backed Houthi rebels have captured the Yemeni port city of Mocha and struck a key Saudi oil pipeline, bad news for Saudi Arabia, Israel, the US, and anyone who depends on stable oil prices.

• Mocha sits less than 80 kilometers from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the southern gateway to the Red Sea and one of the world's most important oil shipping routes.
• The Houthis now control both the northern and southern Red Sea, giving them the power to blockade ships, and they say they will let everyone through except the Saudis.
• Taking the city cut off three main supply roads for the internationally recognized Yemeni government, leaving its forces in Taiz and Aden isolated.
• The Houthis also appear to have hit Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline at several points, the backup route built in the 1980s to move oil around the Strait of Hormuz.
• Oil prices jumped on the news, and the Houthis reportedly seized Zuqar Island in the southern Red Sea as well.

Outlook: The Houthis are advancing quickly along Yemen's west coast, and if they lock down the entire Red Sea coastline, Gulf oil exports face a squeeze from both the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.