2023-12-14 18:11:41
Houthi piracy series: American mobilization, European anger, and Iranian threat
On Thursday, Western and Yemeni sources spoke of the Houthis’ attempt to pirate a new container ship in the Red Sea, in the context of the group’s escalation and attacks that it claims target tankers heading to Israel.
This came at a time when the United States was mobilizing to form the broadest international coalition to protect navigation in the Red Sea, coinciding with European anger over the Houthi attacks, and with Iranian warnings once morest the formation of the upcoming maritime coalition.
Western sources reported that an international container carrier was pirated in the Red Sea by the Houthis (X)
With the Houthis escalating their attacks in the Red Sea, which Yemeni politicians see as an effort by the group to evade peace obligations and plunge the country into a new international crisis, the European Union expressed its anger at the attacks, while recalling their impact on the humanitarian conditions in the country.
The European Union strongly condemned the recent Houthi missile attacks, including the attack on the Norwegian tanker Strinda. He said in a statement on Thursday that multiple attacks from areas under Houthi control in Yemen threaten international navigation and maritime security, representing a grave violation of international law.
The statement described the Houthis’ interference in navigational rights and freedoms in the waters around the Arabian Peninsula as “unacceptable.” He stressed that the European Union calls on the Houthis to refrain from any further threats and attacks on shipping lines and calls for the immediate release of the ship “Galaxy Leader” and its crew, which consists of 25 individuals, who were illegally detained on November 19 while they were in international waters in the southern sea. the Red.
The European statement stressed that the Houthi attacks on international ships undermine Yemen’s security, including its food security, as most food imports to the country pass through the Red Sea.
The Norwegian tanker “Strinda” was targeted by the Houthis with a missile late on Monday and was damaged (AFP)
The statement hinted at the possibility of the European Union dealing with the American approach to protect navigation in the Red Sea, through a broad international coalition. He said, “The European Union also recalls that strengthening international and regional cooperation at this moment, more than ever, is crucial to confronting threats to peace and security in the region, and the Union is coordinating with its partners to this end.”
New piracy
The British maritime security company “Embry” said Thursday that it is aware of reports regarding a group claiming to be the “Yemeni Navy” that asked a ship sailing in the Bab al-Mandab Strait to change its course and head to Yemen. In reference to the Houthis.
Ambrey and the British Maritime Trade Operations Authority explained in two guidance notes that they are investigating the incident and another incident in the Indian Ocean off Yemen.
The Maritime Trade Operations Authority also said in the memorandum that it had received a report from a ship regarding seeing an explosion off the coast of Yemen in the southern Red Sea.
Embry reported that a cargo ship owned by the Marshall Islands and flying the Hong Kong flag detected a missile landing in the waters while it was sailing northward, northwest of Mokha, Yemen. The ship’s crew was not harmed. Pointing out her belief that the entity causing the incident was the Houthis.
Soldiers from the Yemeni government’s coast guard off the coast of Mokha, south of the Red Sea (AFP)
The authority announced earlier on its account on the “X” platform that it had received a report stating that an entity identifying itself as the “Yemeni Navy” had ordered a ship to change its course towards Yemen. Shortly before that, the authority stated – according to what was reported by the Arab World News Agency – that the authorities were investigating an incident in the vicinity of Bab al-Mandab off the coast of Yemen, and then later announced that it had received reports of another incident in the Arabian Sea.
While the Houthis did not immediately announce the adoption of any operation, local Yemeni sources reported that the group’s forces pirated a new container ship called “Maersk” and took it to the coasts controlled by the group.
Western media reported that an oil tanker exchanged fire with gunmen on a small boat in the Red Sea on Wednesday, and that a number of gunmen on a boat approached a commercial ship flying the flag of the Marshall Islands, while the Houthis claimed responsibility, on Tuesday, for firing a missile at a transport ship. Norwegian ship was not damaged.
An international coalition and an Iranian warning
The Houthis’ escalating threat to shipping prompted Washington to move to form a broad international coalition in the Red Sea, which Iran sees as an imminent danger targeting its Houthi arm in Yemen.
Archyde.com quoted the US envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking, on Thursday, saying that his country wants to form the “broadest possible naval coalition” to protect ships in the Red Sea and send an “important signal” to the Houthis in Yemen that further attacks will not be tolerated.
The US special envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking, said that the United States wants the multinational coalition to send “an important signal from the international community that Houthi threats to international shipping will not be tolerated.”
Lenderking said in an interview during a conference in Doha that the United States aims to expand the current international maritime task force into “an international coalition that allocates some resources to protecting freedom of navigation.”
He added, “There is a very active evaluation taking place in Washington regarding the necessary steps to get the Houthis to stop the escalation,” calling on the group to release the crew of the ship “Galaxy Leader” that was seized on November 19.
US envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking (Archyde.com)
Lenderking declined to specify which countries or how many other countries Washington had contacted to join the expanded coalition, but said it should be “the broadest possible coalition.”
According to Archyde.com, the Houthi attacks led to an increase in the cost of shipping goods through the Red Sea, which the London insurance market now lists as high-risk areas. Noting that 23,000 ships pass every year through the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait, which connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea and beyond to the Suez Canal.
Tehran responded to American statements regarding forming an alliance to protect the Red Sea by warning once morest this step, and Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said that any move in the region it controls will face “unusual problems.” According to what was reported by Iranian media.
The Houthi group claimed responsibility for bombing a Norwegian tanker off the shores of the port of Mokha in the southern Red Sea, causing damage, while American sources reported on Wednesday that another commercial ship carrying a shipment of fuel survived two missiles near Bab al-Mandab.
The Houthi group did not claim responsibility for the attack, which the American media said coincided with the launch of a drone that was shot down by the destroyer USS Mason in the Red Sea.
Constant threat
The Houthi group claims that it is carrying out its attacks in support of the Palestinians in Gaza, and has vowed to target all ships heading to Israeli ports, regardless of their nationality, while the Yemeni government says that the group is implementing Iran’s instructions and that its attacks have nothing to do with the Palestinian issue.
Amid fears that the militarization of the Red Sea would obstruct the peace process in Yemen led by the United Nations with Saudi and Omani mediation, the French Navy confirmed the downing of a Houthi drone, on Tuesday, which is the second operation in which Paris is responsible for confronting Houthi attacks.
The US Navy is active in the Red Sea, but that did not prevent ending the Houthi threat (AFP)
In light of the United States’ threats not to rule out military intervention in Yemen, the Yemeni government is dealing with the escalating situation with caution, and holds the international community responsible for what happened in the Red Sea, where the major powers prevented the liberation of Hodeidah and its ports and pressed to conclude the “Stockholm” agreement, from which the group benefited. The Houthis to enhance their military capabilities and increase their threat to navigation in the Red Sea.
In the latest statement by the Houthi group, Thursday, leader Abdul Qadir Al-Murtada, who is responsible for the file of prisoners and the torture of kidnapped Yemenis in prisons, said: “Under no circumstances can we stop attacking Israeli ships in the Red Sea and preventing them from passing until the aggression once morest our people in Gaza stops.” » According to his claim.
The Houthi leader added in a tweet on “X” that his group will not allow the passage of ships heading to Israel of any nationality, whether America forms an international coalition or not. Claiming that such an alliance once morest his group “may complicate the matter more than it is, because every escalation will certainly be met with a counter-escalation.”
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