“Blatant aggression”
Russia condemns attacks against Houthi fighters
January 13, 2024, 3:41 a.m
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After the attacks by the USA and Great Britain against the Houthi fighters, Russia requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council – and used the meeting to criticize. It is said that the attacks were directed against the population of all of Yemen. The USA and Great Britain oppose this.
Russia strongly condemned the attacks by the USA and Great Britain on Houthi militia positions in Yemen on Friday night at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. Russian UN Ambassador Vasily Nebensia spoke to the panel in New York of “blatant armed aggression against another country.” “These states carried out a mass attack on Yemeni territory,” Nebensia said. “I’m not talking about an attack on a group within the country, but an attack on the population of the country as a whole. Planes were used, warships and submarines.”
British UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward said her country’s armed forces had taken “limited, necessary and appropriate steps in self-defense.” “During this operation, particular care was taken to minimize the risk to civilians.” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council that no country’s ships were safe from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. “Whether a ship is flying the US flag or the flag of another country, all of our ships are vulnerable.” Thomas-Greenfield also said that without Iran’s support, the Houthi rebels would have little ability to attack merchant ships in the Red Sea.
The USA and Great Britain bombed Houthi positions in Yemen on Friday night. US President Joe Biden spoke of a “direct response” to the “unprecedented” Houthi attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea. The Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have carried out numerous drone and rocket attacks on ships in the Red Sea since the beginning of the war between Israel and the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas.
Russia requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council after the airstrikes. The United Nations’ most powerful body issued a resolution on Wednesday calling for an end to Houthi attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea and upholding the right of member states to defend ships against such attacks.