UN terms developments in Red Sea 'alarming'

A UN official has voiced concern about tension in the Red Sea that would affect Yemen and the region.

"These developments in the Red Sea and the risk of exacerbating regional tensions are alarming," Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East and Asia and the Pacific, Khaled Khiari, told a UN Security Council meeting on Friday.

The 15-member Council met one day after the US and the UK, with the support of Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, conducted air strikes against military targets in Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen.

The Houthi group, which said it targets Israeli-linked vessels in solidarity with the people of Gaza, said the US and Britain will "pay a heavy price."

"The Houthis' attack following the adoption of the Security Council resolution and yesterday's events, further demonstrate that the region is on a dangerous escalatory trajectory which could potentially impact millions in Yemen, the region and globally," said Khiari.

The UN reaffirms the importance of ensuring the safety and security of maritime navigation in the region, as emphasised in Resolution 272, which condemned and demanded an immediate halt to attacks by the Houthis on ships in the Red Sea, he said.

"We call on this Council to continue its efforts in actively engaging with all concerned parties to prevent further escalation from exacerbating regional tensions or undermining regional peace, security, or international trade," added Khiari.

'Our ships are vulnerable'

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US envoy to the UN, said the aim of the strikes was to disrupt and degrade the Houthis' ability to continue "reckless" attacks against vessels and commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The strikes Thursday were "necessary, and they were proportionate," she said.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin announced last month the creation of a multinational mission to counter Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

UK's envoy to the UN Barbara Woodward said London is committed to continue working with the international community to combat the international threat.

The UK remains committed to ensuring the freedom of navigation, which is protected by international law, and to defending international trade, she added.

Russian envoy, Vasily Nebenzya, urged the international community to decisively condemn the attack against Yemen that was carried out by the US without a mandate of the UN.

"With great regret, we know that yesterday we encountered just such a situation armed aggression by a group of countries against another state," said Nebenzya.

The states all carried out a mass strike on Yemeni territory, he said. "I'm not talking about an attack on some group within the country but an attack on the people of the country on the whole."

"What we are seeing in Yemen unfortunately, is painfully familiar, the same picture of destruction for three months has already been unfolding in the Gaza Strip," he said, and warned that Yemen is again becoming a "hotbed of hostilities" in the region.