Britain is "willing
to take direct action" against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen who have
repeatedly attacked vessels in the Red Sea, its defense secretary Grant Shapps
said.
The Houthis -- who say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in
the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza -- have repeatedly fired drones and missiles at
passing ships in the seaway through which 12 percent of global trade passes.
Hours after the latest
incident when US Naval ships fired at the boats carrying the rebels, Shapps
said Britain could step up its own military interventions. A British destroyer
shot down a suspected Huthi attack drone in the Red Sea in mid-December.
"We are willing to take direct action, and we won't hesitate to take
further action to deter threats to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea,"
he wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
The Huthis "should be under no misunderstanding: we are committed to
holding malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks". Shapps described the situation in
the region as "a test for the international community" which had
implications for other potentially contested waterways around the world.
"If we do not protect the Red Sea, it risks emboldening those looking
to threaten elsewhere including in the South China Sea and Crimea," he
added. "We need to stand firm with our allies, stand firm for our beliefs
and stand firm for innocent people caught up in these events."
The Telegraph said London is drawing up plans with Washington for
potential military strikes against the Huthis, and reported that a joint
statement giving the rebels a final warning to stop their attacks was imminent.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he had spoken to his Iranian
counterpart Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian about the Red Sea
tensions. "I made clear that Iran
shares responsibility for preventing these attacks," he said on social
media, noting Tehran's "long-standing support" for the Huthis.