The Houthis have warned that they will continue to attack and target Saudi and United Arab Emirates vessels in the Red Sea, regardless of the establishment of an international coalition led by the United States to protect the waterway from Iranian influence.
The Houthis, an Iranian-backed armed group in Yemen, have repeatedly struck UAE ships or vessels carrying smuggling goods off the Yemeni coast.
The United States has said it is forming a coalition to ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and security of strategic supplies of energy from the Persian Gulf.
However, the Houthis, who have been fighting a Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen since 2015, have vowed to keep attacking the vessels.
“We will continue to target the Saudi-Emirati ships and vessels wherever they are in the Red Sea and wherever they traffic illegal goods,” Yehia Sarei, a Houthi spokesman, said.
Sarei accused the Saudi-led coalition of supporting and aiding illegal smuggling of goods and arms through the Red Sea, and warned that the Houthis have the capacity to target the ships “whenever necessary”.
The Houthis have fired missiles and drones at ships off the coast of Yemen in the past few years. In August 2019, they launched a salvo of cruise missiles targeting four vessels off the coast of western Yemen.
In October 2019, the Houthis carried out a similar attack, targeting a very large crude carrier and a passenger liner. The Houthis said they were targeting UAE vessels.
