Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a call with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Monday in which he condemned attacks by Yemen's Houthi movement on commercial vessels in international waters in the Red Sea, the State Department said on Monday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Saul Loeb/Pool via Reuters
Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a call with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Monday in which he condemned attacks by Yemen's Houthi movement on commercial vessels in international waters in the Red Sea, the State Department said on Monday.
THE TAKE
The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, have waded into the war between Israel and Islamist group Hamas by attacking vessels in vital shipping lanes and even firing drones and missiles at Israel, more than 1,000 miles from their seat of power in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. The Houthi group said on Monday it launched a drone attack on two cargo vessels in one of its latest attacks in the region.
Several countries have agreed to jointly carry out patrols in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to try to safeguard commercial shipping against attacks by Houthi rebels, who say they are supporting Palestinians under siege by Israel in the Gaza Strip.
KEY QUOTE
"The Secretary also condemned continued attacks by the Houthis on commercial vessels operating in international waters in the southern Red Sea and urged cooperation among all partners to uphold maritime security," the State Department said in a statement after the call.
In the call, Blinken discussed about "preventing the further spread of the conflict," according to the State Department.
CONTEXT
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said earlier this month there must be an immediate end to fighting in Gaza and alleged that governments worldwide do not seem to see it as a priority.
Even as the United Nations has demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the United States and Israel have resisted those calls, saying it would help Hamas rearm and regroup.
Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel left 1,200 dead and Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza has killed nearly 20,000, according to the local health ministry, with many more missing and presumed buried under rubble.
By Kanishka Singh and Costas Pitas
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militants fired on Saudi oil installations in two ports on the Red Sea coast on Saturday, but the United States held back from launching air strikes on Iran itself for the first night in two weeks.
Yemen is edging towards the resumption of a more than decade-old frozen conflict, Yemeni officials, Western diplomats and analysts say, as attacks on Saudi infrastructure and shipping by Iran-aligned Houthis test the patience of the kingdom and the Yemeni government forces it backs.
Iran flew Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, military advisers and missile- and drone-related equipment into Yemen this month, according to four sources, in a move that suggests Tehran is seeking to strengthen the ability of its Houthi allies to threaten Red Sea shipping.
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