Houthi Leader: We Are Ready To Respond To US Aggression

Iran International Newsroom
Newly recruited Houthi fighters watch a recorded lecture on Israel and the Jews by the Houthi movement's top leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, during a ceremony at the end of their training in Sanaa, Yemen January 11, 2024.
Newly recruited Houthi fighters watch a recorded lecture on Israel and the Jews by the Houthi movement's top leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, during a ceremony at the end of their training in Sanaa, Yemen January 11, 2024.

The leader of Iran-backed Houthis has warned again that the group is ready to respond to any “US aggression,” as it continues attacks against shipping in the Red Sea.

We will continue “to fulfil our duties with regard to Palestine” despite the efforts by Washington and London to protect Israeli and Israel-related ships in the region, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi stressed, adding that Houthis will do “what is necessary” in the case of a “direct confrontation” with the US.

He added that the attacks launched by Yemen’s Houthis in the Red Sea have caused “enormous damage” to the economy of Israel and its allies.

Iran has supported the Houthis for a decade, supplying weapons and military know-how to Muslim sect, which is different from the majority Sunnis in Yemen, and religiously closer to the Shia sect. Iran is ruled by Shia clerics.

Though the Islamic Republic has avoided any direct military involvement in the Israel-Hamas conflict, the regime has used its proxy groups to attack Israeli and American targets in the region. Iranian-backed Houthi militants have stepped up attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea in protest against Israel’s war in Gaza. The attacks began after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called for blockading Israel.

The son of a newly recruited Houthi fighter holds the Palestinian flag as his father carries him during a ceremony at the end of the training of new recruits in Sanaa, Yemen January 11, 2024.
The son of a newly recruited Houthi fighter holds the Palestinian flag as his father carries him during a ceremony at the end of the training of new recruits in Sanaa, Yemen January 11, 2024.

On Tuesday, Yemeni Houthis launched 24 missile and drones targeting international shipping in the Red Sea. The US and UK forces in the region shot down 21 of these projectiles. In December, Washington launched a multinational naval collation in the Red Sea to protect commercial vessels. Britain, Norway, Canada, France, Australia and several other countries have so far joined the coalition.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Wednesday, calling on Houthis to stop attacks on shipping in the Red Sea immediately. After much deliberation, the 15-member council arrived at a draft with no direct reference to Iran and mild enough for Russia and China to not use their veto. Both countries abstained.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the formation of a Palestinian state and integration of Israel in the region will be the best ways to stabilize the Middle East and isolate the Islamic Republic and its proxies. 

In case these aims are not achieved, the region will “continue to see the terrorism, the nihilism, the destruction by Hamas, by the Houthis, by Hezbollah, all backed by Iran,” Blinken told reporters after meeting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

Blinken’s travel to Egypt ended his fourth regional tour of the Middle East since the onset of Israel-Hamas conflict on October 7. Over the past days, he also visited Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Israel and the West Bank.

The Biden administration has defended vessels in the Red Sea to a large extent but has refrained from attacking Houthis in Yemen responsible for endangering international maritime safety and commercial traffic. Critics have argued that without retaliation, Houthis and their sponsors in Tehran will not be deterred.

Iran seized an oil tanker on Thursday in Sea of Oman, claiming it was in retaliation for the US seizure of its oil from the same vessel last year.