British Foreign Secretary: We are ready to strike the Houthis again if the attacks continue in the Red Sea
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that his country is ready to carry out further strikes on Houthi targets if commercial and military ships continue to be attacked in the Red Sea.
In an article he wrote in the British newspaper The Telegraph, Cameron said, “If the Houthis in Yemen are allowed to prevent the passage of ships, vital supply chains will be threatened and prices will rise in Britain and around the world.”
He added that the strikes launched by American and British forces over the past few days “will somewhat weaken the capabilities of the Houthis, which were built with Iranian support.”
He continued: “Our clear position is that we will always defend freedom of navigation, and most importantly, we will be ready to back up our words with actions.”
Cameron praised British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for approving the first set of British strikes, which he said came after “a request from the United States for assistance in limited and targeted military action.”
The Foreign Secretary insisted that Britain “did not rush into these strikes,” and that it issued “warning after warning” to the Houthis before launching these strikes.
This comes after the administration of US President Joe Biden described the US and British air attacks on Houthi targets recently as a “clear message” that the United States will not “allow hostile elements to endanger freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.”
At the same time, the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, expressed his concern and called on all parties to avoid any steps that would lead to a worsening of the situation in Yemen, expressing his fear of the negative impact on peace efforts and on stability and security in the region.
On Friday, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam downplayed the impact of the joint US-British strikes.
Amid Yemeni skepticism about the effectiveness of the strikes, Biden did not rule out repeating them if the Houthis did not stop attacking ships in the most important shipping corridor for trade between the East and the West.
The Houthis in Yemen have been attacking high-value cargo ships in the Red Sea since November, to show support for the Hamas movement, which is fighting Israel in Gaza.
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2024-01-14 10:29:38
