Sunak calls emergency cabinet meeting amid speculation UK will join US in strike against Houthis after Red Sea clashes
11 January 2024, 18:58 | Updated: 11 January 2024, 19:18
Rishi Sunak is due to hold a full cabinet meeting tonight amid escalating tensions with the Houthis and Iran.
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The Yemeni group, which is backed by Tehran, has threatened shipping in the Red Sea - risking the crippling of international shipping.
And a British warship, HMS Diamond, joined US destroyers and jets in shooting down drones launched by the Houthis.
The group started threatening shipping in response to Israel's invasion of Gaza, boarding a vessel and firing missiles at ships. US Central Command, which controls American forces in the Middle East, said in an update on Thursday that the Houthis had launched 27 attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
It has led to speculation that the US and British could launch strikes against them.
Cabinet is expected to meet at 7.45pm. It follows an emergency Cobra meeting and National Security Council talks earlier on Thursday.
Grant Shapps, the defence secretary, said on Wednesday after HMS Diamond helped repel the Houthi attack: "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."
And US secretary of state Antony Blinken warned the same day: "We've been clear with more than 20 other countries that if this continues, as it did yesterday, there will be consequences. And I'm going to leave it at that."
Houthi leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi warned: "Any American attack will not remain without a response. The response will be greater than the attack that was carried out with 20 drones and a number of missiles."
That was in reference to the strike which was repulsed by the UK and US ships. It was described as the group's biggest attack yet.
In November, the Houthis hijacked the Galaxy Leader cargo ship, claiming it was Israeli. Japan's government said it was actually operated by Nippon Yusen, a shipping company in Tokyo.
The group controls much of Yemen's west, including the coastline at the entrance to the Red Sea, after a series of civil wars.
It is avowedly anti-American and anti-Israeli, and says its attacks on shipping are designed to stop the Gaza invasion.
There are fears that if vessels are so badly affected they stop using the Suez Canal - which 12% of shipping passes through, shortening the travel time between Europe and Asia - the cost of goods could rise.
Now, the Houthis' backer Iran has seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman.
Sailing under a Mashall Islands flag, the St Nikolas ship was boarded some 50 miles off the coast of Oman.
The area is transited by ships coming in and out of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKTMO), which provides warnings to sailors in the region, described receiving a report from the ship’s security manager of hearing "unknown voices over the phone".
Iran's state media said the seizure came in response to the US confiscating the vessel, and its oil onboard, last year. Washington acted as part of its sanctions regime against Tehran.
Iranian media said it was an American ship, but it is actually Greek owned. Empire Navigation, the company that operates the ship, said it was carrying 145,000 tonnes of crude oil.
A total of 18 Filipinos and one Greek made up the crew.
