A senior official of the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist group says Chinese and Russian vessels will have safe passage through the Red Sea.
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi political leadership, said in an interview with the Russian outlet Izvestia that the shipping lanes around Yemen are safe to ships from China and Russia as long as vessels are not connected with Israel, Agence France-Presse reported Friday, citing Izvestia.
The Houthis have said they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians amid Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza and have carried out more than 30 attacks in the Red Sea.
However, the Houthis have launched attacks on ships with no apparent connection with Israel, resulting in some shipping firms avoiding the shipping lanes where the Houthis have launched attacks.
Major shipping companies have responded by rerouting vessels on the longer and more expensive route around Africa. The Red Sea route is a vital shipping link between Europe and Asia, carrying about 15% of the world’s maritime traffic.
The Houthi rebels launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at a U.S.-owned ship in the Gulf of Aden, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement late Thursday.
The statement said the crew saw the missiles land in the water near the ship. There were no reported injuries or damage to the ship, the M/V Chem Ranger, a Marshall Island-flagged, U.S.-owned, Greek-operated tanker ship, U.S. Central Command said.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they had carried out the attack, claiming “direct hits,” a statement on the group’s social media said.
On Thursday, U.S. forces carried out more strikes against targets inside Iranian-backed, Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen, as concerns grow that the Israel-Hamas conflict could expand into a full-blown war across the Middle East.
