The United States and Britain on Thursday (January 12) defended as legal under international law military strikes carried out against the Houthis in retaliation for the Yemeni group's attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, Reuters reports.
"The aim of these strikes was to disrupt and degrade the Houthis ability to continue their reckless attacks against vessels and commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. These strikes were necessary and they were proportionate, as you just heard from my UK colleague. They were consistent with international law and an exercise of the United States inherent right to self-defense, as reflected by Article 51 of the UN Charter," said U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the U.N. Security Council.
She said more than 2,000 ships had been forced by the attacks to divert from the Red Sea since November.
"Colleagues, the United States does not desire more conflict in a region already plagued by so much of it. Our aim is simple to do de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea while upholding the fundamental principles of freedom of navigation," she said.
Thomas-Greenfield also spoke about the role of Iran in these attacks:
"Without Iranian support in violation of their obligations under Resolution 2216. The Houthis would struggle to effectively track and strike commercial vessels navigating, shipping lanes through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Every member of this council, and especially those with direct channels to Iran, should press Iran's leaders to rein in the Houthis and stop these attacks."
