UK warns of more attacks on Yemen's Houthi rebels, vows to protect commercial ships in Red Sea

Grant Shapps, who left open the potential that western forces would fight the Houthi rebels in Yemen once more, stated that the UK will not accept the Red Sea being permanently closed to commercial commerce. The US-led airstrikes on the Houthis last week were intended to be a one-time military operation to halt their attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, the UK defense secretary stated on Monday. However, he noted that as they determine whether more assaults are necessary, the US, UK, and their foreign allies were closely monitoring what the rebels did next. “We will watch very carefully; we will look at the patterns of what’s happening; we will check the capability; we will in particular, be interested to see those links between Tehran and the Houthis to see whether when we’re monitoring, whether there are shipments; whether we detect intelligence and the rest of it," Shapps said at Lancaster House in London. Shapps brushed off the Houthis’ claim that their assaults on shipping are only directed at Israel because of its war on Gaza in retaliation for Hamas’ atrocities on October 7. “I know the Houthis are saying that it’s somehow connected, but actually, 50 different nations have had their ships attacked, so it quite clearly isn’t actually connected,” he said. “Although this was a distinct piece of precisely targeted military action, we will not put up with a major waterway, major shipping lanes being closed on a permanent basis,” he added.