Yemen’s Houthi rebels are enthusiastically “confronting America directly,” the organization’s leader said in a televised speech, vowing to continue the group’s campaign of attacks on ships in the Red Sea until Israel’s blockade of Gaza is lifted.
The remarks came as the U.S. steps up its strikes on Houthi targets and ahead of President Joe Biden’s admission to reporters that so far, his administration’s military action was not having its intended effect.
“When you say working, are they stopping the Houthis?” Biden said in an exchange with reporters in Washington, D.C. “No. Are they going to continue? Yes.” The White House redesignated the Houthis as a terrorist organization on Wednesday, after delisting the group in 2021.
The U.S. carried out its fifth airstrike against Houthi targets in Yemen late Thursday night, with American jets targeting anti-ship missiles that U.S. Central Command said “were aimed into the southern Red Sea and prepared to launch.
As if to validate Biden’s comments, the Iran-backed rebel group within hours launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at a U.S.-owned tanker. The vessel, a small chemical tanker called the Chem Ranger, reported no injuries or damage to the ship.
The Houthis’ actions have certainly worked to disrupt transport and seaborne trade in the region: Major ocean carriers have suspended all Red Sea and Suez Canal transport, opting to sail around the continent of Africa instead, creating significant delays and supply bottlenecks and costing companies billions of dollars.
Al-Houthi also took a personal swipe at the American president, mocking Biden as “an elderly man that has trouble climbing the stairs of an airplane yet is traveling 9,000 miles to attack those that wanted to stand by the oppressed people of Gaza.” as report by CNBC
