Eight days ago Secretary of State Blinken promised ‘consequences’ if the attacks didn’t stop.
On Tuesday I wrote about what U.S. Central Command counted as the 26th Houthi attack on commercial shipping in and around the Red Sea since November 19. The White House eight days ago and Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday have promised “consequences” for the Houthis’ attacks if they don’t stop. So far, no consequences have been forthcoming.
I asked, “Will the 27th Houthi attack on commercial shipping be the one that leads to consequences? The 28th? The 29th?”
Well, now we have the 27th. Central Command says that around 2 a.m. today local time (about 6 p.m. yesterday Eastern Time) the Houthis fired an anti-ship missile from Yemen into international shipping lanes. A commercial vessel saw the missile hit the water, with no injuries or damage.
One missile is much less than Tuesday’s attack, which was the largest yet, when 18 drones, two cruise missiles, and one anti-ship missile were shot down by U.S. and U.K. forces. Iran has now complemented these attacks by its proxies with an attack by its own navy, on an oil tanker that was involved in a dispute over U.S. sanctions two years ago.
In a televised speech today, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthi movement, said his fighters would retaliate against any attack from the U.S. “Direct confrontation with the American, British and Israeli is what we yearn for,” said al-Houthi. “We won’t relent no matter how many martyrs we offer.” “Death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews” is part of the Houthi movement’s official motto, and the movement receives money and weapons from Iran.
U.K. prime minister Rishi Sunak is calling an emergency cabinet meeting today, possibly to discuss military action against the Houthis. British defense secretary Grant Shapps said, “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.”