Stepping onto the Yemeni island of Perim is to relive history.

Its barren sand and rock moonscape feels for all the world like the land that time forgot. Its location, however, has put it at the heart of a very modern conflict, CNN reports.

For Perim Island sits in the Strait of Bab al-Mandab, a geopolitical pinch-point that’s taken on an outsized importance since US President Donald Trump’s war with Iran effectively shuttered the Strait of Hormuz.

To help keep global energy supplies flowing, and prices down, Saudi Arabia diverted its oil exports from Hormuz to the Red Sea.

But now Yemen’s Houthi rebels have begun an offensive that could land them control of Perim – and with it the ability to prevent ships passing through this narrow gateway from the Red Sea.

Regional sources told CNN that the Houthis were making a major push to capture the town of Mocha, a crucial coastal location some 50 miles to the north of Perim.

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