Perim Island

Perim Island, also called Mayun or Mayyun, is a small, rocky island off the southwestern coast of Yemen. Its location at the narrowest point of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, through which all shipping in the Red Sea and Suez Canal must pass, gives the island’s occupier a strategic advantage in monitoring traffic through the strait.

Perim Island, also called Mayun or Mayyun, is strategically important because it sits at the narrowest point of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, through which all shipping in the Red Sea and Suez Canal must pass. Although rocky and small—about 5 square miles (13 square km) in area—the island’s occupier has outsize command over passage through the world’s third busiest oil chokepoint after the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Hormuz.

During the Yemeni Civil War, the United Arab Emirates built an airbase on Perim Island, which was later captured by Houthi rebels in September 2026 after the United Arab Emirates withdrew its military.

Mayyun Island or Mayun Island, also called Perim Island, is important because of its strategic location at the narrowest point of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, through which all shipping in the Red Sea and Suez Canal must pass. Although rocky and small—about 5 square miles (13 square km) in area—the island’s occupier has outsize command over passage through the world’s third busiest oil chokepoint after the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Hormuz.