Staff Reporter
Eleven countries have joined the United States’ call to send a final warning to Yemen’s Houthi militant faction, which has attacked commercial vessels in the Red Sea at least 24 times since November 2023.
The countries issued a statement warning that the attacks were “illegal, unacceptable, and profoundly destabilising” and that the Houthis would be responsible for the consequences if they did not halt attacks on international vessels passing through the region.
The UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore signed the warning, as well as Bahrain, one of the United States’ allies in the Middle East, which was the only country in the region to back the warning.
“Attacks on vessels, including commercial vessels, using unmanned aerial vehicles, small boats, and missiles, including the first use of anti-ship ballistic missiles against such vessels, are a direct threat to the freedom of navigation,” the coalition said in the statement.
“We call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews. The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce.”
Egypt, which depends on Red Sea ship traffic for its Suez Canal toll income, Saudi Arabia and China did not sign the statement.
Shipping associations WCS, Bimco and ICS issued a joint statement thanking the countries for defending law and order on the seas.
“On behalf of our members and their seafarers and customers throughout the world, the organisations thank these 12 nations for their strong commitment to defending rules-based international order and to holding malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks,” the associations said.
The UN Security Council met in New York on Wednesday to talk about the Houthi threat where the US and UK reiterated their call for the Houthi forces to cease fire.
Russia’s UN representative, Vassily Nebenzia, held Israel responsible for the attacks saying they were an extension of the violence in Gaza over the past three months. He said a ceasefire in Gaza would resolve the problems in the Red Sea.
