Kuala Lampur, Sept. 15 -- The latest seizure of Greater Hanish and Lesser Hanish by Yemen's Houthi rebels, following their capture of Perim Island in the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the port of Mokha, should not be read as another episode in Yemen's civil war.

It should be read as a direct challenge to the security of global trade.

To be sure, when an Iran-backed militant group takes physical control of islands that overlook one of the world's most vital shipping lanes, the world moves beyond local conflict.

It enters a phase where geography itself is being used as leverage.

The Bab al-Mandab is narrow, exposed, and indispensable. A significant share of the world's container traffic and energy shipments transit these waters daily, bound ...