Yemen conflict: US carries out new strike as it seizes Iran weapons bound for Houthis

The US military carried out further airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen on Tuesday, targeting what it characterised as anti-ship ballistic missiles.

The action followed dozens of strikes against the Iran-backed rebels across Yemen in recent days as the US and UK seek to halt attacks by the group on cargo ships in the Red Sea, which were launched in response to Israel’s war in Gaza.

Two US officials told Reuters that Tuesday’s strikes were targeted at four anti-ship missiles.

The Biden administration is expected to soon announce plans to redesignate Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen as specially designated global terrorists, according to two people familiar with the White House decision and a US official. The move comes as the Houthis have launched dozens of attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea. The group says it has attacked the ships in response to Israel’s military operations in Gaza in the aftermath of Hamas’ 7 October attack on Israel. The three people familiar with the decision were not authorized to comment and requested anonymity to discuss the matter ahead of the expected formal announcement. Secretary of State Antony Blinken delisted the Houthis as both a foreign terrorist organization and as specially designated global terrorists in February 2021 as the administration sought to make it easier to get food imports and humanitarian aid into Yemen. In its waning days, the Trump administration designated the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization over the strong objections of human rights and humanitarian aid groups. The foreign terrorist designation barred Americans and people and organizations subject to US jurisdiction from providing “material support” to the Houthis, which the groups said would result in an even greater humanitarian catastrophe than what was already happening in Yemen.

Britain will establish a body to identify risks to critical imports, the government has said, as it outlined a strategy to make supply chains more resilient against global shocks.

Renewed conflict in the Middle East, including the targeting of international shipping lanes by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi group, has threatened trade, and comes after war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic also challenged global supply chains.

Britain has sought to work closely with allies including the United States on securing supplies of critical minerals like lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and manganese, which are used in electric cars, smartphones and solar panels.

The government said the ‘Critical Imports and Supply Chains Strategy’ would help secure supplies of critical minerals, semiconductors and medicines by establishing a portal to let businesses report disruption quickly.

“With this strategy we’re equipping business so they no longer have to rely on unpredictable partners for supplies of the goods that keep our country going,” junior business minister Nusrat Ghani said in a statement.

The business ministry said it would establish a Critical Imports Council so government and business could work together to mitigate risks and plan supply chain resilience.

It added it would work to attract international investment to domestic projects, such as plans by British Lithium in partnership with France’s Imerys to mine Lithium in Cornwall, southwest England.

The government also said that supply chain considerations would be taken into account in negotiating future free trade deals with other countries.

British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Wednesday a Malta-flagged container ship reported being approached by three skiffs and one unmanned aerial vehicle 10 miles southwest of Yemen‘s Dhubab.

No damage or casualties were reported, the firm added in an advisory note.

A senior White House official said Tuesday that addressing the ongoing threat by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on commercial vessels in the Red Sea is an “all hands on deck” problem that the U.S. and allies must address together to minimize impact on the global economy.

“How long this goes on and how bad it gets comes down not just to the decisions of the countries in the coalition that took strikes last week,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said during an appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The Iran-backed Houthi group has launched dozens of attacks since November on vessels in the Red Sea, a vital corridor for the world’s shipping traffic, in what they say is an effort to support Palestinians in the war with Israel. U.S. and British forces have responded by carrying out dozens of air and sea strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen since Friday. The attacks by the Houthis have continued.

US and British forces launched airstrikes against dozens of targets across Yemen on January 11 in retaliation for months of attacks by the country’s Houthi movement on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea.

Those attacks, launched by the Iran-backed group in response to Israel’s war in Gaza, have wrought havoc on international shipping and drawn the US and its allies into a regional conflict.

The Pentagon said 60 targets were hit using more than 150 precision-guided munitions.

The Houthis, led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, are Shia rebels who have fought Yemen’s government for nearly two decades and have controlled most of the country for half of that time.

The group is part of a so-called “axis of resistance” led by Iran, and defined by its opposition to Israel and the US.

Iran has reportedly launched airstrikes on Balochistan in Pakistan, targeting the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry condemned the “illegal” airstrike and claimed that two children were killed and three others injured.

Pakistan also summoned Tehran’s senior diplomat in Islamabad to protest against the “unprovoked violation of its airspace”.

Pakistan has become the third country after Iraq and Syria to be targeted by Iranian attacks in the past few days.

These attacks are seen as a part of a series of reprisals against Tehran’s perceived enemies, especially in the wake of a double suicide bombing in the city of Kerman on 3 January, in which more than 80 Iranians were killed.

Isis claimed responsibility for that attack. However, the Guardian reported that it was unclear if Iran believed that Jaish al-Adl was involved in the Kerman bombing.

The attack by Iran comes amid heightened tensions in the region amid Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

Iran has stated that it does not want to get involved in the wider conflict but the groups in its “Axis of Resistance” – a network of autonomous militant Islamist groups – have been carrying out attacks on Israel and its allies.

Would the US and the UK be prepared to put boots on the ground in Yemen (as Boris Johnson proposed)? Will a prolonged air campaign be enough to paralyse the Iran-backed Houthis? There are many difficult questions left to answer over the Middle East’s latest hotspot, warns Kim Sengupta:

The Biden administration is planning on redesignating Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen as specially designated global terrorists, the Associated Press reported.

In 2021, US secretary of state, Antony Blinken delisted the Houthis as both a foreign terrorist organisation and as specially designated global terrorists in February 2021 as the administration sought to make it easier to get food imports and humanitarian aid into Yemen.

The Islamist group claims it began striking a narrow strip of sea between Yemen and east Africa, which is a key international trade route, in a bid to end Israel’s air and ground offensive against Hamas.

In retaliation, Britain and the US launched air strikes across Yemen against Houthi forces. President Joe Biden called the strikes a “direct response” to an onslaught of attacks on Red Sea ships which “jeopardised trade, and threatened freedom of navigation”.

Rishi Sunak said the action was “necessary and proportionate”.