UK will take 'proportionate action' if Houthis keep threatening Red Sea shipping

The Defence Secretary has warned Houthi rebels the UK will not hesitate to take "necessary and proportionate action" if they continue to attack shipping in the Red Sea.

Grant Shapps, writing on social media platform X, said the Iranian-backed Houthis "put innocent lives at risk and threaten the global economy" with their actions in the region, causing chaos to international trade routes.

The UK and 11 other nations have issued a joint statement condemning the Houthi attacks.

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It says: "Ongoing Houthi attacks in the Red Sea are illegal, unacceptable and profoundly destabilising. There is no lawful justification for intentionally targeting civilian shipping and naval vessels.

"Attacks on vessels, including commercial vessels, using unmanned aerial vehicles, small boats and missiles, including the historic first use of anti-ship ballistic missiles against such vessels, are a direct threat to the freedom of navigation that serves as the bedrock of global trade in one of the world’s most critical waterways.

"These attacks threaten innocent lives from all over the world and constitute a significant international problem that demands collective action."

The letter continues: "Nearly 15 per cent of global seaborne trade passes through the Red Sea, including eight per cent of global grain trade, 12 per cent of seaborne-traded oil and eight per cent of the world’s liquefied natural gas trade.

"International shipping companies continue to reroute their vessels around through the Cape of Good Hope, adding significant cost and weeks of delay to the delivery of goods, and ultimately jeopardising the movement of critical food, fuel and humanitarian assistance throughout the world.

"Let our message now be clear: we call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews.

"The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways.

"We remain committed to the international rules-based order and are determined to hold malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks."

In December, Royal Navy Type 45 air defence destroyer HMS Diamond joined a US-led international coalition to protect commercial shipping sailing through the Red Sea after tankers came under attack from militants in Yemen.

But when he was asked whether more warships could join HMS Diamond in the region, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said "no decisions have been made".

The US has shot down a number of Houthi rebel targets as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a new operation which began shortly before Christmas to deter attacks on cargo ships in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

On Boxing Day, US Central Command announced that the destroyer USS Laboon and US F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft had shot down 12 one-way attack drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles and two land attack cruise missiles over the Red Sea.  

Previous Houthi strikes had been thwarted by missiles fired from UK, US and French warships.