ROME — Yemen’s Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping must be stopped without triggering a new war, the Italian defense minister said on Wednesday, as the Iranian-backed militia steps up attacks on commercial vessels.
US and British forces shot down 21 drones and missiles fired by the Houthis on Tuesday towards international Red Sea shipping lanes, the US military’s Central Command said, adding it was the 26th such Houthi attack since Nov. 19.
“It is a huge problem, it is a consequence of other (war) outbreaks. I would not like to open a third front of war at this time,” Guido Crosetto told Reuters, in a reference to current conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
The Houthis have vowed to continue the attacks until Israel halts the conflict in Gaza, and has said that it would strike US warships if the militia group itself was attacked in Yemen.
The United States and other countries last month launched Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect civilian vessels in the one of the most important trade routes in the world.
Italy announced in December it would send a naval vessel to the area following requests for back-up from ship owners, but it has not signed up to the US-led mission, with other EU allies also appearing to distance themselves from the initiative.
Crosetto said parliament would need to approve Italian naval involvement in Operation Prosperity Guardian, complicating any eventual adherence.
“There is a thing called Constitution, and there are laws for which a new international mission needs parliamentary approval, needs separate funding,” Crosetto said.
“If we decide to do so (join Prosperity Guardian), it will be a decision that goes through a cabinet meeting, reaches parliament and is voted on by the (two) chambers.”
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DUBAI — Yemen’s Houthis attacked a US ship “providing support” to Israel with a large number of ballistic and naval missiles and drones, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised speech on Wednesday.
He did not say what damage, if any, the vessel had suffered.
The operation was a “preliminary response” to a previous US attack that killed 10 Houthi militants, he added.
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BERLIN — Germany strongly condemns the latest attacks on vessels by Iranian-backed Houthi militants in the Red Sea, a German foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.
The attacks “show that the Houthis are clearly focusing on escalation against international merchant shipping and the ships of our partners and allies in the region,” added the spokesperson.
