Saudi Arabia calls for restraint, de-escalation after US-UK airstrikes in Yemen

CAIRO – 12 January 2024: Saudi Arabia stressed the importance of maintaining the security and stability of the Red Sea region on Friday.

It also called for restraint and the avoidance of escalation as the US and UK carried out strikes on multiple targets inside Yemen belonging to the Houthi rebel group, Al Ekhbariya news channel reported.

"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is closely monitoring with great concern the military operations taking place in the Red Sea region and the airstrikes that several locations in the Republic of Yemen have been subjected to," the Foreign Ministry stated in a statement.

It called for “restraint and avoiding escalation in light of what the region is witnessing.”

US warplanes, ships and submarines along with British fighters launches strikes on Houthis in Yemen, a source at the US Defense Department said.

In statements to Alhurra channel, the source said that today's strikes targeted sites associated with the Houthis' unmanned aerial vehicle, ballistic and cruise missile, and coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities.

The United States maintains its right to self-defense and, if necessary, we will take follow-on actions to protect US forces, the source added. 

US President Joe Biden said strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen a direct response to rebels' Red Sea attacks.

“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 a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House.

“These attacks have endangered US personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized trade, and threatened freedom of navigation,” Biden said.

Australia has supported the US and UK militaries as they launched more than a dozen airstrikes against sites used by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, The Guardian reported.

The Australian defense minister, Richard Marles, said the decision to launch the strikes “was not taken lightly.”

“On 4 January, Australia was part of 14 countries which issued a statement warning the Houthi rebels that if they continue to attack maritime activity in the Red Sea, there would be consequences,” he said on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Houthi fighters vowed to continue their attacks against Israel-linked ships amid the Israeli ongoing aggression on Gaza over the past 98 days.

“The US and Britain will have to prepare to pay a heavy price” for the strikes, said the Houthis’ deputy foreign minister, Hussein Al-Ezzi.

Parts of the report was edited by Egypt Today