"At a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, we have just approved the launch of a military operation Aspides, where Italy will take command of the forces," Tajani wrote on X (former Twitter).
Participants in the mission will not strike Houthi positions in Yemen, as the operation will be purely defensive, Tajani said earlier in February.
This led US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to announce the creation of a multinational operation to secure navigation in the Red Sea. US and UK forces later launched major strikes against Houthi positions in a bid to degrade the rebels' ability to target commercial vessels.