UK ready to attack Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, defence secretary says
Grant Shapps said the government would not hesitate to take ‘direct action’ to prevent further attacks
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Your support makes all the difference.Britain is drawing up plans with the US for potential air strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels over their attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea.
Defence secretary Grant Shapps has said that the UK is ready to act and is “willing to take direct action” to protect the key shipping lane.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Shapps said that the Iranian-backed Houthis “should be under no misunderstanding” that they would be held “accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks” on cargo ships.
The UK and the US are expected to release a joint statement giving the Houthis a final warning to stop further attacks. The Houthi rebels have pledged to disrupt maritime traffic in response to Israel’s strikes on Gaza.
It comes after the US Navy destroyed a number of Houthi “small boats” whose crews had attempted to board a ship in the Red Sea. Houthi rebels fired at the Maersk Hangzhou and US helicopters responded to the ship’s distress call, sinking three boats “in self-defence”, the military said on Sunday.
Mr Shapps wrote in the Telegraph that a Royal Navy destroyer had previously joined international efforts to protect ships from the attacks.
He said: “As HMS Diamond illustrated earlier in the month, we are willing to take direct action, and we won’t hesitate to take further action to deter threats to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.”
He continued: “Those terrorists who are disrupting trade in the Red Sea are drinking in the last chance saloon. Diplomatic efforts have been made to find a resolution but with limited success.”
Foreign secretary Lord Cameron said that he had spoken to Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, after the attack on Sunday. Writing on X, formerly Twitter, he said: “I made clear that Iran shares responsibility for preventing these attacks given their long-standing support to the Houthis.”
Earlier in December, the leader of the Houthis vowed to attack US warships if the clashes in the Red Sea escalated. Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Houthi movement, has previously promised that any American air strike would be met with aggression, saying: “We will make American battleships, interests and navigation a target for our missiles, drones and military operations.”
Around 50 merchant ships pass through the Red Sea every day, but following Sunday’s attack Maersk – one of the largest shipping companies in the world – has paused sailings for 48 hours.
The US and its allies have launched a mission to protect ships in the area, with a global patrol starting on 18 December.
A UK government spokesperson said: “The situation in the Red Sea is incredibly serious, and the Houthi attacks are unacceptable and destabilising. As you would expect, while planning is underway for a range of scenarios, no decisions have yet been made and we continue to pursue all diplomatic routes.
“We call for the Iranian-backed Houthi to cease these illegal attacks and we are working with allies and partners to protect freedom of navigation.”