Grant Shapps warns UK could crack down harder on Iran-backed Houthis in Red Sea after warship downs drones

10 January 2024, 16:49

Grant Shapps has warned that the UK could take further action against Iran-backed Houthis after a British warship intercepted the "largest attack by the Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red Sea to date."

The Defence Secretary told the Yemeni Houthis to "watch this space" as he warned that their campaign against commercial ships, which is disrupting global trade, "has to stop".

It comes after warships including the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Diamond shot down Houthi drones targeting ships overnight on Wednesday.

Rebel attacks in the Red Sea have escalated over the last few weeks, including drone and ballistic missile attacks, coming from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. Some 26 Houthi attacks on commercial ships have taken place since November 19, according to the US.

The Houthis, based in Yemen, is backed by Iran and openly supports Hamas. A US-led coalition of nations has been patrolling the Red Sea to try and prevent the attacks.

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Mr Shapps said: "Be in no doubt at all Iran is guiding what is happening there in the Red Sea, providing them not just with equipment to carry out those attacks but also often with the eyes and ears to allow those attacks to happen.

"We must be clear with the Houthis, that this has to stop and that is my simple message to them today and watch this space," he told Sky News.

Mr Shapps had said earlier HMS Diamond had helped US Naval forces to repel "multiple attack drones with her guns and sea viper missiles."

Posting on Twitter, Mr Shapps said it was one of the "largest attack by the Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red Sea to date."

In a statement, the Defence Secretary said: "Overnight, HMS Diamond, along with US warships, successfully repelled the largest attack from the Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red Sea to date.

"Deploying Sea Viper missiles and guns, Diamond destroyed multiple attack drones heading for her and commercial shipping in the area, with no injuries or damage sustained to Diamond or her crew.

"The UK alongside allies have previously made clear that these illegal attacks are completely unacceptable and if continued the Houthis will bear the consequences.

"We will take the action needed to protect innocent lives and the global economy."

A total of 18 one-way attack drones - designed to explode upon impact - were fired by Houthi militias in Yemen along with two anti-ship cruise missiles and one anti-ship ballistic missile at about 9.15pm local time, according to a statement by the US military describing it as a "complex attack".

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“Iranian-backed Huthis launched a complex attack of Iranian-designed one-way attack UAVs… anti-ship cruise missiles, and an anti-ship ballistic missile from Huthi-controlled areas of Yemen into the Southern Red Sea,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Wednesday.

CENTCOM said it was the "26th Houthi attack on commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea since Nov. 19. There were no injuries or damage reported."

Ship traffic in the Red Sea decreased by 20 per cent in December 2023, as shipping companies suspended their operations or shifted their routes to the Cape of Good Hope after the Houthis in Yemen attacked commercial vessels in the Red Sea related to Israel-Hamas conflicts.

Last week the US, United Kingdom and 11 other countries issued a statement calling for the immediate end of Houthi attacks and warning that further attacks would require collective action.

At an open Security Council meeting last week, Russia's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called on Houthi leaders to implement the statement by the 13 countries and halt attacks.

But he stressed that the Houthi's actions must be seen as a response to "Israel's brutal operation in Gaza" and the best scenario would be for the Security Council to redouble efforts to end the Yemen civil war and the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Iran-backed Houthis say the attacks are aimed at ending the air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip following the 7 October attacks by Hamas.