Houthis ready for long confrontation with US and UK
The leader of the Houthi group‘s forces says, “Washington and Tel Aviv are always synonymous with chaos, destruction, anarchy, murder, and international terrorism.”
The Yemeni Houthi group today confirmed, Tuesday, its readiness to engage in a long confrontation with the United States and Britain, which are conducting airstrikes targeting its positions, in the latest indication that the situation in the Red Sea region is heading towards further escalation.
Mohammed Al-Houthi, the leader of the Yemeni Houthi group‘s forces, said, “We are ready for a long-term confrontation with the forces of tyranny, and for the American and British and those who follow them to understand the power of Yemeni sovereign decision-making, and that there is no debate or bargaining about it,” according to the “Saba” agency affiliated with the group.
He added, “The American administration is tampering with the international value system through the standards it sets to serve its political whims, its wars, and its aggression against peoples, foremost among them the Yemeni people.”
He said, “Washington and Tel Aviv are always synonymous with chaos, destruction, anarchy, murder, and international terrorism and are effectively destroyers of security, stability, and peace, and do not believe in peace,” stressing that “the strategy of revenge and punishment for the provocations of Washington and London is coming and will target every painful point that affects them and makes them regret their actions.”
He added, “We tell them from the Red Sea that we are the ones who will put an end to American dominance, which it is writing its end with its own hands,” insisting that “the Houthis will make the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea an unrelenting barrier of fire for Israel and its allies,” affirming that they “will not allow it to become an artery feeding their brutality and criminality against the Palestinians.”
He pointed to “the failure of the American and British to form a maritime alliance against Yemen, which has led them to commit acts contrary to international laws and norms and to expose international maritime traffic in the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea to risks and create artificial disturbances in it and spread fears and threats to companies and ships sailing in these areas.”
The group said it had “received an American threat to open battles and move fronts in Yemen, in a message sent by Washington through the Sultanate of Oman, in response to the group’s position against Israel,” according to a tweet by Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Supreme Political Council of the Houthis, on the “X” platform.
The Red Sea has been witnessing continuous tensions for some time due to missile and drone attacks carried out by the Yemeni Houthi group against shipping vessels associated with Israel, which has had a negative impact on maritime transport, trade, and global supply chains.
In response, a coalition led by the United States has been sporadically conducting airstrikes since January 12 against Houthi positions in several regions of Yemen.
In a related context, China said today, Tuesday, that a quick end to the Israeli war on Gaza would alleviate tensions in the Red Sea.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wang Wenbin, said at a press conference in the capital Beijing that his country “does not want to see tensions in the Red Sea,” adding “we call for an end to harassment and attacks on civilian ships,” without giving further details on the matter.
China has repeatedly linked attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea to the Israeli war on Gaza and refused to vote in early January in favor of a resolution by the United Nations Security Council condemning Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
