Yemeni rebel leader Abdel Malek al-Houthi threatened retaliation on Wednesday in the event of an American attack on Yemen, after Washington announced the formation of a coalition in the Red Sea to repel rebel attacks against ships.
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“If America wants escalation or commits the stupidity of targeting our country, we will not stand idly by,” the Houthi leader said in a speech broadcast by his movement-controlled Al-Massirah television.
“We will then attack it and we will target American naval units, American interests and the American merchant marine with our missiles and our drones,” he added.
A recent wave of attacks by the Houthis on ships in the Red Sea using drones and missiles threatens to disrupt global trade flows as major shipping companies cut off passage through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
A senior Houthi official said this week that these attacks would only stop “if Israel stops its crimes and food, medicine and fuel reach the besieged population” in the Gaza Strip, as part of the conflict with the Palestinian movement Hamas.
The anti-Houthi alliance announced Monday includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain.
According to the Pentagon, the Houthis have carried out more than 100 attacks against 10 commercial vessels with ties to more than 35 countries. In November they captured the Galaxy Leader and took its 25 crew members hostage. The ship and its crew are still in Yemen.
Abdel Malek al-Houthi assured that the rebels only target ships that trade with Israel and accused the United States of wanting to “militarize the Red Sea in the interests of the Israelis.”
The Red Sea is a “sea highway” that connects the Mediterranean with the Indian Ocean and thus Europe with Asia. Around 20,000 ships pass through the Suez Canal every year, another gateway for ships traveling through the Red Sea.
According to the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), 12% of world trade passes through the Red Sea.
Because of the Houthi attacks, insurance prices have skyrocketed, prompting major shipping companies to reroute their ships around the southern tip of Africa.