The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday demanded Yemen's Houthis immediately end attacks on ships in the Red Sea and cautioned against escalating tensions while implicitly endorsing a U.S.-led task force that has been defending vessels.
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The demand came in a Security Council resolution that also called on the Houthis to release the Galaxy Leader, a Japanese-operated vehicle carrier linked to an Israeli businessman that the group commandeered on Nov. 19, and its 25-person crew. Eleven members voted for the resolution and four, including veto-wielding Russia and China, abstained. None voted against.
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A Houthi trooper stands guard during a protest against a multinational operation to safeguard Red Sea shipping
(Photo: Yahya Arhab / EPA)
The provision amounted to an implicit endorsement of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a U.S.-led multinational naval task force that has been defending commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden from Houthi missile and drone attacks.
"The threat to navigational rights and freedoms in the Red Sea is a global challenge that necessitates a global response," U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in urging the council to approve the resolution.
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Members of the Yemeni Coast Guard affiliated with the Houthi group patrol the sea
(Photo: AFP)
The resolution came hours after a report in the British Telegraph that claimed at least 200 members of the Houthi rebel group received training at the elite Iranian naval academy under the patronage of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei who was also directly involved in a maritime blockade in November.
According to the report, Iran also armed the Houthis and supplied them with weapons systems to allow them to strike cargo ships sailing near Yemen's shores on their way to the Suez Canal.
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Cargo ships arrive at the Suez Canal on Wednesday
(Photo: by Sayed Hassan / Getty Images)
A spokesperson for the group called the UN resolution a "political game" and accused the U.S. of violating international law.