The United States and Britain condemned the Houthi attack on their ships and blamed Iran for its role in supporting the Houthis, but Iran says it had no role in the attacks and that the Houthis make their own decisions.
Previously, “Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi”, a member of the Supreme Political Council of Yemen, stated: We recommend that the ships follow the orders of the Yemeni Navy in order to avoid risks in the Red Sea. We also recommend that the identity of the ships should not be falsified, and any flags other than the ships’ owners be removed. The ships traveling through the Red Sea should not be destined for the shores of Israel.
He further said: The Yemeni armed forces have clearly announced their goals for the victory of Gaza, which includes stopping the American and Israeli attacks on the Palestinian strip.
The Yemeni army, in support of Palestine, targeted several Israeli ships in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab strait in the past weeks.
The Yemeni armed forces had previously announced that in response to Israel’s military action, they would target any Israeli ship in the Gaza Strip.
The densely populated areas, including the Red Sea coast of Yemen, are under the control of the Houthis, who have taken power since 2014.
In the past, this group had attacked some ships that were passing through the Red Sea, but since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, these attacks have increased.
They use drones and rockets to attack ships, and in one case, the group also seized an Israeli-linked ship with its crew using a helicopter.
The European Union’s foreign policy office announced on Wednesday: “The numerous attacks carried out from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen violate international regulations and threaten international navigation and maritime security.”
The Economist weekly wrote in a report published on Saturday night that the four companies that stopped their transportation operations in the Red Sea account for 53% of the total world container trade.
Yemen’s Houthis have stepped up their attacks on ships passing through the Red Sea since Israel and Hamas waged war, raising concerns about the impact on the movement of oil, grain and consumer goods through the major global trade artery.
The decision of the Swiss-Italian “Mediterranean Shipping Company” (MSC) and the French company CMA CGM came after two other major shipping companies, Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd, said on Friday that they had suspended moving cargo through the Red Sea following attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
The Suez Canal is located in the northern part of the Red Sea and the narrow Strait of Bab al-Mandab is located in the south and leads to the Gulf of Aden. It is a strategic area where many ships pass through to transport goods between Asia and Europe. It is said that about 17 thousand commercial ships pass through this area every year.
Much of Europe’s energy resources, such as oil and diesel fuel, are imported through the waterway, says John Staupert, the International Chamber of Shipping’s senior director of environment and trade.
In addition, food products such as oil and grains and many other commercial products also enter Europe through this channel.
Noam Ridan, a senior expert at the Washington Institute in the field of Near East policy, said about the impact of these attacks: “It seems that some ships associated with Israel have to travel a longer route to reach their destination due to the existing conditions, which means the ships’ journey will increase from 19 days to 31 days.”
