The Americans can no longer count on enjoying security in the critical Red Sea corridor linking Asia and Europe, a senior official in Yemen’s Ansar Allah (Houthi) militia movement has announced.
“The Red Sea is no longer a resort in which the Americans can roam and have fun in,” Supreme Political Council member Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said in a mass rally in Sanaa on Friday, two days after the US launched its latest strikes at Houthi targets in Yemen.
“We call on Arab nations to come out, demonstrate and continue to put pressure on the arrogant enemy until the aggression stops,” al-Houthi urged, adding that Yemenis would “stand firm with Gaza until victory.”
“Our direct combat is a breakthrough against all the American-British aggressors we face,” the official added.
The US’ new “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” sanctions against the Houthis went into effect on Friday, with the restrictions, first announced in mid-January, making it illegal for Americans to provide any financial or material to the Yemeni militia, and freezing any assets the Houthis – a militia operating in one of the poorest countries on Earth, and whose slogan includes the line 'Death to America', may happen to have in the US.
The US and Britain began a campaign of missile strikes against Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen on January 12, ostensibly seeking to degrade the militia’s ability to hijack commercial ships traveling through the Red Sea or strike them with missiles and drones. The Houthis have defied the aggression, announcing that American “losers” and their allies will “regret their acts of aggression against Yemen” and be barred from passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The Houthis countered the US and UK military campaign by targeting the countries’ warships. Last week, the militia reiterated that all foreign warships must leave the Red Sea “and end their blockade of the country” in the wake of reports that the Royal Navy’s HMS Diamond guided missile destroyer would be “temporarily” pulled out of the body of water for refit after repeated attacks by the militia.
A senior Houthi official told UK media on Thursday that the militia would consider escalating their operations against the US-led coalition “if there is American and British escalation that targets Yemeni civilians.”
“If we had rockets and warplanes that could reach deep into the US and UK, of course we would hit them without any hesitation as long as they are attacking Yemen, this is a legitimate right for Yemen,” Houthi spokesman Mohammed al-Bukhaiti stressed.
Separately on Thursday, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree announced that the militia had targeted the UK bulk carrier Lycavitos using anti-ship missiles. CENTCOM confirmed on Friday that the Lycavitos had been attacked, but said the ship suffered “no injuries” among its crew and “very minor damage,” continuing on its voyage.
The Houthis’ campaign has slowed the flow of Israeli owned and bound ships through the Red Sea to a trickle, with the Israeli Red Sea Port of Eilat suffering an 85 percent drop in activity. Major global shipping giants have halted their operations through the strategic chock point or been forced to stock up on additional insurance in case anything happens to their cargoes, with the spike in prices expected to result in new inflationary pressures, or Houthiflation, for consumers still suffering the consequences of the West's sanctions war against Russia.