The UN Security Council has passed a resolution demanding Yemen’s Houthis put an end to the attacks on ships crossing the Red Sea and free the Japanese-operated Galaxy Leader that was seized last year.
Eleven members of the council voted on Wednesday for the measure calling on the Iran-backed Houthis to “immediately cease all attacks, which impede global commerce and navigational rights and freedoms as well as regional peace”, reports Al Jazeera.
While four members namely Algeria, China, Mozambique and Russia, abstained, none voted against the resolution. China and Russia, the permanent members of the council, have vetoes but chose not to use them.
“The world’s message to the Houthis today was clear: Cease these attacks immediately,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, said in a statement after the vote. The US sponsored the resolution alongside Japan.
“With this resolution, the Council has lived up to its responsibility to help ensure the free flow of lawful transit through the Red Sea continues unimpeded,” Thomas-Greenfield added, reports Al Jazeera.
According to the US, the Houthis have carried out 26 attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea after the seizure of the Galaxy Leader and its 25-strong multinational crew on November 19.
The Houthis claim that they are targeting Israeli-linked or Israel-bound vessels to protest against the ongoing war on Gaza.
The key provision of the resolution noted the right of United Nations member states, in accordance with international law, “to defend their vessels from attack, including those that undermine navigational rights and freedoms”, reports Al Jazeera.
The provision essentially constitutes a tacit approval of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a multinational naval task force led by the United States, including the United Kingdom and Norway. This task force was formed in December to protect commercial shipping from Houthi attacks.
Houthis have targeted the vessels belonging to Norway, which has one of the world’s largest merchant shipping fleets.
The US military has on Wednesday said that it had shot down 21 Houthi missiles and drones that were part of a “complex attack” on southern Red Sea shipping lanes. The UK, which worked with the US to thwart the Houthi attack, said it was the largest in the area so far.
The US accuses Iran of providing crucial support for the Houthi attacks, including advanced missiles and drones, thereby violating the UN Security Council resolutions. However, Tehran denies the allegations.
Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the head of Yemen’s Houthi supreme revolutionary committee in Yemen, dismissed the UN resolution as a “political game” and claimed the US was the one violating international law.
The Red Sea links the Middle East and Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal and its narrow Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Nearly 10 per cent of all oil trade and an estimated $1 trillion in goods pass through the strait every year.
During the hijacking incident, the Galaxy Leader, which was ultimately owned by a company linked to an Israeli businessman, was being operated by a Japanese shipping line. The crew consisted of individuals from Bulgaria, Mexico, the Philippines, Romania, and Ukraine.
The Houthis have been engaged in a civil war with Yemen’s internationally recognised government since 2014.