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Iranwire – The Iranian government has condemned the United States and United Kingdom for military strikes on Yemen, warning that such attacks will only increase insecurity in the Middle East.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that the strikes on Iran-backed Houthi rebel military targets in response to their attacks on ships in the Red Sea “are a clear violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a breach of international laws.”
“These attacks will only contribute to insecurity and instability in the region,” Kanaani added.
President Joe Biden said that the United States and its allies “will not tolerate” the Houthis’ increasing number of attacks in the Red Sea, which he said have forced more than 2,000 ships to make detours of thousands of kilometers to avoid the narrow strip of water.
He also said that crews from more than 20 countries were “threatened or taken hostage” in acts of Houthi piracy.
“Today, at my direction, U.S. military forces — together with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands — successfully conducted strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Huthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways,” the US president said in a statement.
“These strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Huthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea — including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history,” he added.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the strikes were aimed at Houthi drones, ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the strikes “necessary and proportionate.”
“Despite the repeated warnings from the international community, the Huthis have continued to carry out attacks in the Red Sea,” he said, adding, “We have therefore taken limited, necessary and proportionate action in self-defense, alongside the United States… to degrade Huthi military capabilities and protect global shipping.”
The Houthis, who control swathes of Yemen, have claimed to be targeting vessels to show their support for the Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in its conflict against Israel.
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior Houthi leader, warned that the US and UK will soon realize the strikes were “the greatest folly in their history.”
