On Saturday, British Maritime Trade Operations, which oversees Middle Eastern waters, reported a new missile attack off Yemen, with a missile fired toward a ship about 140 kilometers southeast of Aden. The organization said that the ship did not report any injuries or damage.
Houthi leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi told tens of thousands of supporters in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, that counterattacks were “imminent,” raising the possibility of a broader conflict in a region already reeling from Israel's war in Gaza, and putting Western naval forces on high alert. .
In Saada, the Houthi stronghold in northwestern Yemen, demonstrators gathered for a march to denounce the United States and Israel.
Crowds also collected and burned American, British, and Israeli flags in Tehran, Iran.
The strikes were launched on Friday, with support from Australia and other allies, in response to a Houthi campaign of drone and missile attacks on ships that began in November. The Houthis said at least five people were killed and six wounded.
This decline has raised new concerns that allied air strikes will fail to deter further Houthi attacks, presenting a new set of challenges for Biden and his allies who must decide whether to continue their attacks – and risk new provocations – or look for another means. Solution.
Israel has said it will not abandon its military campaign in Gaza in response to the October 7 Hamas incursion and massacre of about 1,200 people in southern Israel – and a diplomatic solution is unlikely.
Satellite images showed destroyed shelters at Hodeidah Airport in Yemen.credit: Maxar Technologies/AP
The strikes brought the world's attention back to the years-long war in Yemen, which began when the Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014.
A Saudi-led coalition that included the United Arab Emirates intervened to support the exiled Yemeni government in 2015, quickly turning the conflict into a regional confrontation as Iran backed the Houthis with weapons and other support.
The fighting has slowed in recent years, with the Houthis taking control of territory that includes about two-thirds of Yemen's population of 20 million.
War and misrule have made the country one of the poorest in the Arab world. The United Nations World Food Program considers that the vast majority of the Yemeni people suffer from food insecurity.
download
In March, Saudi Arabia reached a Chinese-brokered agreement to resume relations with Iran in the hope of eventually withdrawing from the conflict.
However, a comprehensive agreement has yet to be reached, likely sparking Saudi Arabia's expression of “grave concern” over Friday's strikes as it seeks to manage its sensitive relationship with Iran.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, “While the Kingdom stresses the importance of maintaining the security and stability of the Red Sea region… it calls for restraint and avoiding escalation.”
Iran condemned the attack in a statement by Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani.
He added, “Arbitrary attacks will have no result other than fueling insecurity and instability in the region.”
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning called on countries not to escalate tensions in the Red Sea, while Russia condemned the strikes and described them as “illegitimate from the point of view of international law.”
