A Houthi drone boat packed with explosives detonated in the Red Sea on Thursday, but failed to cause any damage or casualties, the US Navy said, as the Iran-backed militias in Yemen continued their attacks in defiance of international calls to stop.
The latest attack came one day after 12 countries including the US Britain and Japan issued a joint statement cautioning the Houthis of unspecified "consequences" unless it halts its attacks, in what one US official on Wednesday suggested was a final warning.
The Houthis have launched wave after wave of exploding drones and missiles at commercial vessels since Nov. 19, trying to inflict a cost in what they say is a protest against Israel's military operations in Gaza.
Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads US Naval forces in the Middle East, told reporters on Thursday that the Houthi exploding boat drove out about 50 miles (80 km) into the Red Sea and then detonated in dense shipping lanes.
"It came within a couple of miles of ships operating in the area - merchant ships and US Navy ships - and we all watched as it exploded," Cooper told reporters, adding the target of the attack was not clear.
Cooper said there have now been 25 attacks by the Houthis against merchant vessels transiting the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and added "there are no signs that their irresponsible behavior is abating."
The United States and other countries last month launched Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect civilian vessels, which Cooper said now included contributions from 22 countries. So far, Cooper said US warships and US partners have shot down two cruise missiles, six anti-ship ballistic missiles and 11 drones.
Asked whether Operation Prosperity Guardian might target Houthi positions with strikes to prevent them from attacking ships, Cooper said that the 22-nation coalition was purely defensive in nature.
Security Council
Members of the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to address the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
"There have been further alarming developments in the Red Sea," observed Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia and the Pacific in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations.
Continued Houthi threats to maritime navigation — coupled with the risk of further military escalation — could potentially impact millions in Yemen, the region and the world, he warned.
"No cause or grievance can justify continuation of these attacks against the freedom of navigation," he underscored, calling on all parties to de-escalate tensions to return traffic through the Red Sea to normal and avoid dragging Yemen into regional conflagration.
Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), underlined the importance of ensuring the safety of seafarers, the freedom of navigation and the stability of supply chains.
The shipping lane through the Red Sea accounts for 15 percent of global trade, and approximately 18 shipping companies have already decided to reroute their vessels around South Africa to reduce risks, he added.
He noted that this requires 10 additional days of travel, resulting in higher freight rates and a negative impact on trade.
US deputy ambassador Christopher Lu said the Houthis have carried out more than 20 attacks since Nov. 19 -- and despite losing 10 fighters in a confrontation with US forces after trying unsuccessfully to board a cargo ship on Sunday, the militias announced Wednesday morning they had targeted another container ship.
He stressed to the council that the Houthis have been able to carry out the attacks because Iran has supplied them with money and advanced weapons systems including drones, land attack cruise missiles and ballistic missiles – in violation of UN sanctions.
"We also know that Iran has been deeply involved in planning operations against commercial vessels in the Red Sea," Lu remarked.
He stressed that the United States isn’t seeking a confrontation with Iran, but Tehran has a choice.
"It can continue its current course," Lu said, "or it can withhold its support without which the Houthis would struggle to effectively track and strike commercial vessels navigating shipping lanes through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden."
Lu warned that the Houthi attacks "pose grave implications for maritime security, international shipping and commerce" and it’s vital that the Security Council speak out now on the need to uphold international law and the right to freedom of navigation.
Draft resolution
A US draft resolution circulated to council members after the open meeting would condemn and demand an immediate halt to the Houthi attacks and recognize the right of any country to defend their merchant and naval vessels in accordance with international law.
Without mentioning Iran, the draft would also condemn "the provision of arms and related materiel of all types to the Houthis" in violation of UN resolutions. It would also call for all countries to implement the arms embargo on the Houthis and recall that the UN panel of experts monitoring sanctions "has found many Houthi weapons to be of Iranian origin."
The US draft would underscore "the need to avoid further escalation of the situation."
There was near unanimous condemnation of the Houthi attacks in speeches Wednesday by the 15 council members, and many calls for the militias to release the Galaxy Leader, a Japanese-operated cargo ship with links to an Israeli company that it seized on Nov. 19 along with its crew.
Russia
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called on Houthi leaders to implement that statement and halt attacks, but he stressed that they must be seen as a response to the violence in Gaza "where Israel’s brutal operation has continued for three months now," leading to escalating attacks in the West Bank and along the Israel-Lebanon border.
Russia sees two scenarios for the current Red Sea situation, he remarked.
The favorable one would be for the Security Council to redouble efforts to end the Yemen war and the violence in Gaza, Nebenzia said.
The "catastrophic" scenario is to escalate the use of force in the Red Sea — which he said the US and its allies are calling on the council to do — which risks derailing a settlement of the Yemen conflict and would create conditions "for igniting a new major conflict around at least the Arabian Peninsula" and a wider regional conflict.
