UK able to strike Yemen once more if Red Sea assaults proceed, David Cameron warns
David Cameron has warned the UK is ready to strike Yemen once more if the Houthis proceed to assault ships passing via the Red Sea.
The Foreign Secretary additionally defended Friday’s joint US-UK strikes from warships and jets on the Iran-backed group, claiming the Government “had no choice but to act”.
In an article over the weekend, Lord Cameron mentioned the motion “will have gone some way to degrade Houthi capabilities built up with Iranian backing”. He added: “We have sent an unambiguous message: what the Houthis are doing is wrong, and we are determined to put a stop to it.”
And he hinted that Britain may be a part of the US in putting the Houthis once more in the event that they proceed, saying: “We will work with allies. We will always defend the freedom of navigation. And, crucially, we will be prepared to back words with actions.”
Lord Cameron additionally wrote within the Sunday Telegraph he had spoken together with his Iranian counterpart earlier than the strikes and left “them in no doubt”.
He mentioned: “Attacks against merchant and commercial shipping are completely unacceptable. They had to stop. And if they did not, we would have to take action.”
His feedback got here amid warnings from Houthi forces of a retaliation with spokesman Mohammed al-Bukhaiti describing it because the “greatest folly in their history”. He added: “America and Britain made a mistake in launching the war on Yemen because they did not benefit from their previous experiences.”
The Sunday Mirror reported British army chiefs are additionally braced for revenge assaults, with destroyer HMS Diamond on “high alert” within the Red Sea and poised for any response. Alicia Kearns, chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, mentioned: “We must prepare ourselves for any attempts at reprisals on UK personnel and allies, most likely by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.”
Rishi Sunak is anticipated to replace the House of Commons on Monday after he dodged calls on Friday to recall Parliament to permit MPs to debate the strikes.
Writing in The Independent, Keir Starmer reiterated his help for the strikes. The Labour chief mentioned: “The first duty of any government is to keep our country and its citizens safe, and protecting trade, security and lives are paramount to our national interest.”
Mr Starmer added that Mr Sunak “must make a full statement to the House of Commons on Monday, to reassure the public as well as explain how we will protect British interests and guard against the threat of escalation”.
