(Finance) – “Today, on my orders, US military forces, together with the United Kingdom and with the support of Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, successfully conducted attacks against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to jeopardize freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways.” This is what he said US President Joe Biden explaining that it is a “direct response to the Houthi attacks” in the Red Sea. “I will not hesitate – she added – to take further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international trade, if necessary.”
The attacks, a US official told CNN, were carried out in particular with fighter planes and Tomahawk missiles. In the early hours of today, the US and British militaries carried out 23 air attacks on targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, including the capital San’a and the cities of al Hudaydah, Taizz and Sadah. a dozen Houthi targets – chosen to weaken the Houthis’ ability to attack ships in the Red Sea – were hit by missiles launched from air, land and sea (with the USS Florida submarine). These include radar systems, depots and launch sites for drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.
Following the attacks by the USA and GB at the request of Russia The UN Security Council will hold an urgent meeting today on the situation in the Red Sea around 4pm New York time (10pm Italian time).
The United States – as revealed by a senior US administration official in a phone call with a group of journalists – had a series of consultations “with allies and partners” before deciding on the attack against Houthi rebels in Yemen. “We will not go into the details of all our operational consultations but the list of countries that participated in the raids has been made public”, underlined the official, specifying that he did not want to “name the other countries consulted”. However – he added – “it is clear thatbroad support for the actions taken by countries around the world.”
The United Kingdom – said the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – sent a “strong signal” to Houthi rebels with attacks conducted last night by London and Washington against several targets in Yemen. The military action – he added – is in response to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, which “cannot go unpunished”.
For the British Foreign Secretary, David Cameron The US and UK night strikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen represent a “very clear message” to the rebel movement and Iran. The US and UK were forced to resort to military means after the Houthis ignored their warnings and continued to attack commercial vessels in the Red Sea, Cameron said in comments to NBC News, adding that they had discussed the attacks on the Red Sea also with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.
In the meantime, the European Union is also mobilizing. According to what we understand, the European Union External Action Service (EEAS) has presented its proposal for a blue-star mission in the Red Sea to defend international trade to the 27 EU member countries, in which the deployment of “at least three destroyers or anti-aircraft frigates with multi-mission capabilities” for at least “one year”. The proposal, presented before the US and UK strikes in Yemen, notes that “the exact size and composition of the operation will be subject to further operational planning”.
According to what they report Palazzo Chig sourcesItaly was asked to sign the joint declaration with the United States, the United Kingdom and other allied countries (which the government in Rome did not sign) but was never asked to participate in the bombings in Yemen. “We work – explain the same sources – to keep tension low in the Red Sea and we are committed to the European coalition to guarantee free movement of ships in the area”.