Italy “jeopardizes the safety of its military and commercial ships” by assuming tactical command of the EU Aspides mission in the Red Sea. This was stated in an interview with Adnkronos by the deputy head of the Ansar Allah (Houthi) Media Authority and president of the board of directors of the Saba news agency, Nasr al-Din Amer, underlining “that we will strike the ships that are attacking our country or hindering the decision to prevent Israeli ships from crossing the Red Sea. This must be clear.”
According to Amer, one of the 'media faces' of the Houthis – a Zaydi Shiite group that controls large areas of Yemen including the capital Sana'a – is “dangerous” for Italy and “leads it to direct conflict with our country” the decision to lead the mission that intends to “intercept Yemeni missiles” that target Israeli ships or those headed for the Jewish state.
“We absolutely do not recommend Italy to engage in this mission because it is based on false and incorrect information according to which there is a danger to navigation”, insists the Houthi exponent, according to whom “there is no threat to navigation in general, but only to Israeli, American and British ships transiting through the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab, the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden due to their aggression against Yemen.”
The president of Saba's board of directors highlights that, since the United States launched its 'Prosperity Guardian' mission in the Red Sea with the “pretext” of protecting navigation, “the number of ships crossing the Red Sea has decreased” and “the USA has not been able to guarantee any protection to the Israeli ships, indeed, together with Great Britain, they have jeopardized the safety of their ships. We do not advise Italy to do the same”.
Amer therefore confirms the statements of the Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, according to which there will be an escalation if the Israeli “aggression” in Gaza does not cease. “We cannot reveal the nature of this escalation, but certainly if the aggression against Gaza does not stop, we will expand our operations in a way that will surprise everyone“, explains.
The exponent then comments on the news, released by Human Rights Watch, according to which the Houthis have sentenced 13 people to public execution for homosexuality. “We, as an executive authority, do not interfere with the sentences of the judiciary which in Yemen is an independent and respected authority”, he replies, stressing however that “there are no sentences issued for homosexuality, there are no crimes punishable under this heading and no one was executed on charges of homosexuality“.
Amer it also denies that the Houthis receive weapons from Iran. “The weapons we have are produced here in Yemen, and nine years of imposed aggression and siege is proof enough that if Yemen had not produced its own weapons, it would not have been able to resist Saudi Arabia and the Emirates , who imported weapons from various countries around the world to face us – he declares – We developed the manufacturing part ourselves and we have the technologies. We don't get weapons from abroad“.
Finally, on relations with Saudi Arabia, the Houthi representative confirms that there is “an ongoing truce” which, however, “could collapse at any moment, but we are working to guarantee the cessation of the aggression and bring forward with the agreement we have concluded.”
Tajani: “We will not be intimidated”
To prevent the ports of Trieste, Taranto, Brindisi, Gioia Tauro and Genoa “from suffering due to the violence of the Houthis, Italy was the protagonist in sending a European military mission to defend maritime traffic in the Sea area Red. We will protect our ships and we will not be intimidated”, declared the Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, in a press point at the end of the ceremony at the Basovizza foiba.
“We hope that we can soon reach a positive solution in that area, that we can reach peace, even if it is not easy, and therefore also defuse what is happening in Yemen with the Houthi rebels who attack merchant ships passing through the Red Sea”, continued Tajani, underlining that “our Navy will defend our merchant ships because we are a country that has 40% of its GDP dependent on exports and we cannot afford the inability to export to that area causes damage to our ports and our businesses.”
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