Houthis seize 2 strategic Red Sea islands, and other Mideast developments

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have seized the strategic islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish in the southern Red Sea, bolstering the Iranian-backed rebels' ability to control a key maritime shipping route. Meanwhile, Iran says Saudi Arabia was behind Oman’s decision to postpone a meeting bringing together Iran with other regional countries to discuss the Strait of Hormuz. In Iraq, two people died and more than 100 others were injured after an ammonia gas leak at a fertilizer plant in the country’s south. Here’s a look at the latest news in the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.Houthi officials said Monday they had taken over the two islands just as Saudi-backed government forces tried to claw back territory from the rebels' swift advances around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz. Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz — through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas transits in peacetime — in the opening days of the war. The Saudis have since used Bab el-Mandeb Strait that leads out of the Red Sea for crude oil exports.The Houthis’ newest takeover, following the seizure of the Red Sea port of Mokha and a strategic isl...