According to a senior Houthi member, the group supported by Iran had started attacking US and UK vessels stationed in the Red Sea in retaliation.

As reported by CNN, Hussein al-Ezzi, the deputy foreign minister of the rebel group Houthi-led Yemen, stated that the United States and the United Kingdom would have to face severe repercussions and pay a hefty price for their targeted strikes by the American and British forces.

“Our country was subjected to a massive aggressive attack by American and British ships, submarines, and warplanes, and America and Britain will undoubtedly have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all the dire consequences of this blatant aggression,” al-Ezzi claimed.

According to senior Houthi member Abdul Salam Jahaf, the group supported by Iran had started attacking US and UK vessels stationed in the Red Sea in retaliation.

Declaring that the Houthi strikes were intended to protect “freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade” as well as the military, civilian marines, and allies in the area, US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sent a strong message against the rebel group’s attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, which is an essential part of trade between the West and the East.

“Today, at my direction, US military forces–together with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands–successfully conducted strikes against several targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways,” the president stated in a statement.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi supreme leadership council, called the US-UK invasion of Yemen “barbaric.” Iran, meanwhile, denounced the assault and called it a “breach of international laws.”

“We vehemently denounce the military assaults on many Yemeni cities conducted this morning by the United States and the United Kingdom. In a statement, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani stated, “We consider it a clear violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as a breach of international laws, regulations, and rights.”

Since the beginning of the war on Gaza, the Houthi group has attacked Israel with a variety of drone and missile assaults. They have threatened to keep assaulting the nation until the hostilities in the Palestinian enclave end.

The rebel group said that by targeting commercial trucks in the Red Sea, which is an essential part of international trade that passes via the Bal-el-Mandeb strait near Southern Yemen, they were putting pressure on Israel and its allies.

SOURCE: https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/prepare-to-pay-a-heavy-price-houthis-strong-words-to-us-uk-after-airstrikes-101705039514176.html