Britain "on brink of bombing Yemen" over Houthi Red Sea attacks

Britain and America are on the brink of launching military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen after repelling the largest attack yet by the Iran-backed rebels in the Red Sea.

Grant Shapps, the defence secretary, suggested that military action was imminent as he warned “enough is enough” hours after carrier-based jets and destroyers shot down a barrage of drones and missiles launched by the group. “This cannot continue and we won’t allow it to continue so watch this space,” he said at a press conference in central London, The Times repots.

As tensions in the region intensified, Shapps accused Iran of being “heavily behind” the attacks by providing the “eyes and the ears” for Houthi missions. It is believed that the Houthis are provided with intelligence from an Iranian surveillance ship, the Behshad, which is disguised as a general cargo vessel.

Britain, the US and ten other nations threatened military action against the Houthis this month if they did not stop their attacks in the international water­way. They now accept that one of the worst-case scenarios is being realised because the Houthis are not listening to their warnings and are showing a new level of aggression.

Ministers are deeply concerned about the economic impact of the attacks. A Treasury assessment warned before Christmas that disruption to shipping could shrink the British economy by as much as 0.3 per cent. That figure is now expected to be worse.

Under the plans, a US-led coalition is expected to target key Houthi bases and boats with fighter jets and warships. Britain could send warplanes, possibly Typhoons based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. It also has two ships in the ­region, including HMS Diamond, a Type 45 destroyer, which shot down seven drones in an attack on Tuesday night. A third ship, HMS Richmond, a Type 23 frigate, is on its way.

“We cannot have a situation where a major sea route, a major ability to move goods around the world is being cut off by terrorists and thugs and we therefore must act,” Shapps said.

He said the world was living in “much more dangerous times” as he vowed to push for 3 per cent of GDP for defence. Nerves are high in the Foreign Office that the situation could quickly spiral out of control and so any military action is expected to be limited.

There were reports of another vessel being boarded illegally off the coast of Oman on Thursday morning. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) authority said it had lost contact with the ship, located about 50 nautical miles east of Sohar, but did not give further details.

The UN Security Council demanded an immediate halt to Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea in a resolution adopted on Wednesday, that implicitly condemned their main weapons supplier — Iran. The resolution, sponsored by the United States and Japan, was approved by a vote of 11-0 with four abstentions: Russia, China, Algeria and Mozambique.

It condemned “in the strongest terms” at least two dozen attacks carried out by the Houthis on merchant and commercial vessels, which the resolution said are impeding global commerce and undermining navigational freedom. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador, told the council on Wednesday: “If the Houthi attacks continue, there will be consequences.”

She added: “Iran also has a choice: to continue providing or withhold its support for the Houthis, without which the Houthis would struggle to effectively track and strike vessels through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.” Vassily Nebenzya, the Russian ambassador, said Moscow condemned the attacks on civilian vessels but called the resolution “politicised.”

Experts at the Royal United Services Institute said that although the Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Middle East had largely been ineffective and inaccurate, it may prove difficult for the West to effectively degrade Houthi capabilities.

Dr Sidharth Kaushal, a research ­fellow for sea power, and Sam Cranny-Evans, an associate fellow, said that the Houthis were able to deploy a range of missiles, drones and uncrewed kami­kaze boats. They said there were several possible next steps for the West, including limited actions with the threat of more to come. This would entail striking a target of marginal value, such as a missile launcher or a coastal radar.

A few minutes after 9pm local time on Tuesday, the alarm sounded on HMS Diamond as it patrolled the Red Sea on high alert for explosive-laden boats and incoming missiles. “Hands to action stations” was broadcast on the speaker system around the Type 45 destroyer, one of the most advanced warships in the world. Any off-duty sailors who were sleeping were woken up. The threat facing the warship was high enough that everyone on board had to be at their stations ready for a fight.

Incoming to the area were 18 missiles and drones, many fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, and for Commander Pete Evans, the ship’s commanding officer, the risk of a direct hit on the ship had rarely been so high.

In fact until three weeks ago, when HMS Diamond shot down a suspected attack drone with one of its Sea Viper missiles, the Royal Navy had not shot down an aerial target in anger since the first Gulf War in 1991. Back then, HMS Gloucester, a Type 42 destroyer, destroyed an Iraqi Silkworm missile bound for a US warship.

On Tuesday, HMS Diamond was sailing near commercial vessels along with an American aircraft carrier and three Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers when the drones and missiles were spotted on radar. They were identified due to the speed at which they were travelling and their height.

Evans did not have long to consider the threat before giving the order to fire. The Sea Viper missile system swung into action, firing its Aster missiles, known for their precision and ability to hit targets at long range.

However, some of the drones got closer to the ship, forcing HMS Diamond to use its 30mm Oerlikon machineguns, which can fire 200 rounds per minute at a maximum range of 2½ miles. HMS Diamond worked to defeat the “complex attack’ alongside the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft of the USS Dwight D Eisenhower’s carrier strike group and the three US destroyers, USS Gravely, USS Laboon and USS Mason.

As a result of the combined effort, 18 one-way bomb-carrying drones, two anti-ship cruise missiles and one anti-ship ballistic missile were shot down, seven of those by HMS Diamond.

The attack was the 26th time that Houthis have launched drones or missiles toward shipping lanes in the Red Sea since November 19. Miraculously, there were no injuries or damage reported.

Since October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, sparking war in Gaza, the Houthis, who are part of Tehran’s so-called “axis of resistance”, have stepped up their attacks in the Red Sea, targeting commercial vessels. Ministers fear the disruption to shipping could soon ripple through the global economy.

These growing concerns are why the UK, the US and ten other nations last week issued a “final warning” to the Houthis to stop their attacks or face the consequences. After a relatively quiet few days, the attack on Tuesday night was a “reawakening”, said Grant Shapps, the defence secretary, at a press conference on Wednesday.

Shapps was at a dinner at Lancaster House with his Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh, when he was given the news of the attack.

He was hosting the first visit of an Indian defence minister to the UK for 23 year, and they had been discussing the behaviour of the Houthis in the Red Sea. But they also had other issues to talk about. Shapps said that he would deploy the Royal Navy’s carrier strike group with Royal Marines to the Indian Ocean in 2025 to operate with Indian forces and bolster security ties.

Behind the scenes, military chiefs at the Ministry of Defence in London are working with their American allies to draw up options for a response that could mean Britain being dragged into a wider war with Iranian proxies.

Shapps would not be drawn on which assets the UK could use, although it is understood that deploying fighter jets to hit Houthi bases in Yemen is one option on the table. Nerves are high in the Foreign Office that the situation could quickly spiral out of control, so any military action is expected to be limited.

Experts at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) said that although the Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Middle East had largely been ineffective, it might prove difficult for the West to effectively degrade Houthi capabilities.

Dr Sidharth Kaushal, research fellow for sea power, and Sam Cranny-Evans, an associate fellow, said that the Houthis were able to deploy a range of missiles, drones and uncrewed kamikaze boats, and that “it is believed that they are provided with intelligence from an Iranian surveillance ship, the MV Behshad”.

They said there were several possible next steps for the West, including limited action with the threat of more to come. This would entail striking a target of marginal value, such as a missile launcher or a coastal radar, to give the Houthis an opportunity to comply.

They could also carry out direct attacks against a limited but valuable target, using the example of Operation Praying Mantis in 1988 in which the US navy sank a portion of the Iranian fleet to protect shipping in the Persian Gulf but desisted from strikes inland.