Published December 21, 2023
The European Union said Wednesday that its member countries would contribute to a United States-led initiative aimed at protecting commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s top foreign policy official, said the EU will join Operation Prosperity Guardian, which was started to combat a rise in attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
“Irresponsible Houthi actions are a threat to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea,” Borrell announced in a thread on X.
“We will intensify our information sharing and increase our presence with additional naval assets,” he continued. “This demonstrates the EU’s role as a maritime security provider. We match words with action.”
The United Kingdom already joined the effort on Tuesday, sending its HMS Diamond, one of the Royal Navy’s most advanced warships, to the region, the Independent reported.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak assured that the move was not about Israel’s ongoing invasion of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip but instead an effort to protect the global economy.
“As a maritime nation, we’ve always believed very strongly in free and open shipping lanes. That is now being threatened by malign actors,” Sunak told senior members of Parliament.
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SOURCE: www.newsmax.com
RELATED: Biden Mulls Relisting Houthis As A Terror Org, Weighs Offensive Strikes
Published December 20, 2023
The White House has confirmed that it is currently reviewing whether to (re)designate Yemen’s Houthis as a terrorist organization, after for the past weeks the militant Islamist group has attacked several commercial ships and launched missile and drone attacks against Israel as retaliation for the Gaza campaign.
Likely this would allow for more offensive actions against Houthi positions by the US military, and without Congressional approval, when US assets or commercial shipping comes under attack. Asked about a possible new designation in an afternoon press conference, national security council spokesman John Kirby said that “we’re actually conducting a review right now on whether that’s the right course forward.” US officials have raised the possibility of offensive military strikes for the first time, via news wires:
- POSSIBLE STRIKES ON HOUTHIS IN YEMEN CONSIDERED, PEOPLE SAY
- US WEIGHS WHETHER TO ATTACK HOUTHIS BEYOND DEFENSIVE TASK FORCE
- PEOPLE FAMILIAR SAY NO DECISION MADE YET ON STRIKING HOUTHIS
But ironically it was the Biden administration that took the Houthis off the terror list in the first place, in 2021.
Below is what Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in February of that year:
Effective February 16, I am revoking the designations of Ansarallah, sometimes referred to as the Houthis, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under the Immigration and Nationality Act and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended.
This decision is a recognition of the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen. We have listened to warnings from the United Nations, humanitarian groups, and bipartisan members of Congress, among others, that the designations could have a devastating impact on Yemenis’ access to basic commodities like food and fuel.
The Saudi-UAE-US coalition has waged a brutal air war against Yemen and the rebel Houthis going back to 2015, unleashing a dire humanitarian crisis.
The Houthis have long been seen as proxies of Iran, and have lately declared war against both Israel and any vessel going to Israeli ports. The US on Monday announced a ten-nation coalition to patrol and protect the Red Sea from these attacks. This has included, interestingly enough, the tiny island country of the Seychelles. But the Houthis say their resolve remains undeterred…
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SOURCE: www.zerohedge.com
RELATED: Houthis Have No Plan on Stopping Attacks in Red Sea Despite Maritime Task Force
Published December 20, 2023
The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels appear unfazed by the recent creation of a maritime task force to combat their aggression in the Red Sea.
Houthi ruling council member Mohammed Albukhaiti told The Washington Post on Tuesday that the militants will not stop their attacks.
The militants have stepped up attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in protest of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, launching ballistic missiles, attacking ships with drones, and in some cases hijacking them.
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SOURCE: www.townhall.com
