2023-12-19 21:17:00
A senior Houthi official warned Tuesday that any country that acts against Yemeni rebels will see its ships attacked in the Red Sea.
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“Any country that acts against us will have its ships attacked in the Red Sea,” Mohammed Ali al-Huthi said in a televised interview with Iranian Al-Alam television.
Earlier, Yemen’s Houthi rebels stated that they will continue their attacks against ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea, in response to the new military coalition announced by the United States to guarantee security and freedom of navigation in that crucial sea lane for international trade.
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“The coalition formed by the United States is to protect Israel and militarize the sea without any justification, and will not prevent Yemen from continuing its legitimate operations in support of Gaza,” Houthi spokesman Mohamed Abdulsalam said on his official account. of X (formerly Twitter).
In the first reaction after the United States’ announcement of this coalition, Abdulsalam stated that “the United States allowed itself to support Israel by forming an alliance, and also without an alliance. The people of the region have full legitimacy to support the Palestinian people. “Yemen has taken it upon itself to defend Palestinian rights and (confronts the) great injustice in Gaza.”
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The spokesperson reiterated that “Yemen’s naval operations are intended to support the Palestinian people in confronting the aggression and siege of Gaza, and are not a show of force or a challenge to anyone.”
FILE PHOTO: Armed men on the beach as the commercial ship Galaxy Leader, seized by Yemen’s Houthis last month, is anchored off the coast of al-Salif, Yemen (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah)
For this reason, he warned, “whoever wants to expand the conflict must assume the consequences of their actions.”
The Pentagon yesterday announced this military coalition made up of 10 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain. The coalition will act under the name ‘Operation Prosperity Guardian’ and under the umbrella of the international naval force Combined Maritime Forces (CMF).
The head of the Pentagon, Lloyd J. Austin III, is today in Manama, the capital of Bahrain and headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet, and will meet virtually with defense ministers from countries in the region.
Following the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis, backed by Iran, have launched several volleys of missiles and drones against southern Israel in the last two months and also against ships flying the flag of the Jewish State or owned by Israeli companies in the Red Sea and the Strait of Bab al Mandeb.
Since last Friday, the main maritime transport groups have been announcing that they are suspending their operations in the Red Sea, including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, and yesterday the oil company BP joined them, temporarily canceling the passage of its vessels through the area, which may disrupt international maritime trade.
In a virtual ministerial meeting from the capital of Bahrain with ministers, defense chiefs and senior representatives from 43 countries, as well as the European Union and NATO, Austin reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to freedom of navigation and the free movement of trade in the region’s critical sea lanes.
“The attacks have already affected the global economy and will continue to threaten commercial shipping if the international community does not come together to collectively address the problem,” he said, according to a statement from the US Department of Defense, and reiterated his condemnation of the attacks. attacks by Iranian-backed rebels against trade as “unprecedented and unacceptable.”
To confront this series of attacks, Austin urged conference participants “to join U.S.-led and other international efforts and to work with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the Combined Maritime Forces composed by 39 members, to restore security in the Red Sea and deter future Houthi aggression.”
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