The United States is involving European countries, including Italy and Germany, in participating in a military operation against the pro-Iranian Yemeni Ansar Allah movement (Houthis). This occurs against the backdrop of ongoing exchanges of missile strikes between the parties to the conflict. Thus, Washington is trying to justify its actions in the Red Sea in order to avoid accusations of another unilateral aggression in the region, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe. At the same time, the conflict in the Middle East, unlike the Ukrainian crisis, does not in any way affect the interests of Europe. How the situation around the Red Sea is developing and why the White House is trying to legitimize its aggression against Yemen – in the material of Izvestia.
Bombing of Yemen continues
On January 15, the pro-Iranian Yemeni movement Ansar Allah again attacked ships of the Western coalition in the Red Sea led by the United States and Great Britain. The response from Yemen followed a large-scale missile attack by the alliance on Houthi positions in territories under their control on January 12 and 13. Last December, Washington announced Operation Prosperity Sentinel in the region to protect international shipping amid attacks on Israeli merchant ships supporting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel's war against Hamas is entering its fourth month. Due to the aggravation in the region, transport companies are forced to resort to alternative routes, which increases the final cost of goods.
On the morning of January 15, US Central Command USCENTCOM (the American combatant command responsible for missions in the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and parts of South Asia) reported an attack by the Houthis on the destroyer USS Laboon with an anti-ship missile in the Red Sea. However, according to the official statement, no damage or losses were reported. Later in the evening, the command reported an attack on the ship GIBRALTAR EAGLE, it continued its route.
On January 12, the armed forces of the United States and Great Britain, as part of the Western coalition, launched a massive rocket attack on the positions of the Yemeni movement. On the same day, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that US and British forces struck Houthi positions in response to attacks by “an illegal group destabilizing the situation in the region.” Ansar Allah reported the death of five personnel as a result of 73 strikes. Yemen promises to respond.
“We tell the Americans that all their actions and aggression towards Yemen will inevitably fail. We will fight against you with all our might. You will leave the region humiliated and see the power of the Yemenis, which will break your arrogance and overthrow your imaginary hegemony,” Ali al-Kuhum, a member of the Ansar Allah politburo, told the Iranian news agency IRNA.
The spiral of escalation between the parties to the conflict began to tighten after a powerful attack by the Houthis on American and British ships on January 10. The American side then reported repelling 18 drones, two cruise missiles and one ballistic missile. However, there was no evidence of successful interception of enemy targets by the coalition. Regional media, citing sources, later reported that some of the missiles and UAVs fired had completed their tasks.
In general, Ansar Allah is considered one of the key Iranian proxies in the region, and dialogue with them, including any pressure, as the West believes, should go primarily through Tehran. “The United States sent a special message to Iran regarding the actions of the Houthis in Yemen. We are confident that we are well prepared,” US President Joe Biden said during his press conference at the White House on January 13.
Germany, Italy and Poland take the stage
European countries are already taking part in Operation Guardian of Prosperity, announced by the United States on December 18: the Netherlands and Greece. Meanwhile, last weekend it became known that the EU would soon launch its own mission to protect shipping in the Red Sea – it is expected that Germany and Italy will participate in it.
This development of events raises many questions, since now most European countries are already suffering large material losses against the backdrop of the conflict in Ukraine. Many are convinced that Washington and London do not want to bear responsibility for their actions alone, so they are involving EU countries in a new conflict in the Middle East.
— The United States is dragging European countries into a conflict that is unnecessary for Europe, as happened previously with Ukraine. If it can still be passed off as a country whose interests correlate with the interests of the West, then what Yemen has to do with it remains unclear,” international journalist Abbas Juma told Izvestia.
The only reason for the growing conflict in the Middle East is the war in Palestine. It remains incomprehensible that the EU countries will agree to participate in a real “massacre” when it is possible to contribute to the resolution of the conflict in the Gaza Strip, he believes.
On January 13, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto announced his country's participation in an operation to protect merchant ships in the Red Sea due to the increasing frequency of Houthi attacks. “15% of merchant ships pass through the Red Sea. Italy suffers the most in this case. We have one ship in this region, which is already providing security for our ships,” he said on January 13.
According to him, Rome has not received any proposals for joint strikes against the Houthis: “Our allies are well aware that the government needs to obtain permission from parliament to carry out any military action.”
In addition, Berlin plans to enter a new alliance of Western countries, citing the fight for free world trade. Thus, the head of the Bundestag Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, announced Germany's imminent participation in the EU mission to protect shipping in the region, which should be approved by the ministers of the European bloc this month. “The purpose of the mission will be to ensure the safe passage of merchant ships through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait with the support of European frigates,” she said on January 14.
Despite the discussion of an EU mission in the Red Sea separate from the American coalition, this cannot happen without coordination with Washington, which thus seeks to legitimize its actions by involving new participants, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe.
“Traditionally, the United States, even when acting alone, tries to create the appearance of joint activity through the creation of a coalition. At the same time, it is not necessary that the coalition participants have serious weight,” said orientalist, candidate of political sciences Roland Bijamov in an interview with Izvestia.
According to him, the mission of European states is coordinated directly with the White House, following the example of a business partnership, which is not legally formalized. At the same time, EU countries most likely will not directly participate in attacks on the Houthis, but will limit themselves to protecting shipping, the expert believes.
In addition, Italy and Germany have large military bases in the Red Sea region – in Djibouti, on the opposite coast from Yemen. For example, the armed forces of the USA, France, Japan and Spain, as well as China (the only military base of the PRC abroad) are based there. However, Paris and Madrid do not yet plan to participate directly in the new alliance, but they are leaving space for discussion within the framework of the current situation in the region.
At the same time, Russia’s position remains clear and balanced regarding the escalation in the Red Sea and the Gaza Strip: these events are inextricably linked. On January 15, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the situation in the Middle East
with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian.
“The heads of foreign affairs departments strongly condemned the massive strikes undertaken by a group of countries led by the United States and Great Britain on the territory of Yemen,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
In addition, the ministers spoke in favor of an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and ensuring unhindered humanitarian access to the enclave to provide urgent assistance to the affected civilian population.
On January 11, the UN Security Council adopted a US draft resolution condemning Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea. Russia proposed amendments to the text, one of which addressed the root causes of regional tensions, including the conflict in the Palestinian enclave, but they were rejected.
100 days since the war in the Gaza Strip
More than 100 days have passed since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and the ongoing bloody war between the Palestinian resistance movement against the IDF in the Gaza Strip. The conflict in the Palestinian enclave has become the largest in terms of the number of casualties among the local population in such a short period and one of the reasons for the expansion of the crisis: on the part of the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
According to the latest data, the number of Israeli casualties is over 1.2 thousand; in the Gaza Strip they say about 24 thousand dead. At the same time, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on November 15 that, according to IDF data, the Hamas command survived despite intense fighting, and most of the combat personnel continue to carry out their tasks.
At the same time, the Israel Defense Forces estimate the number of personnel of the military wing of the Palestinian al-Qassam movement at 30 thousand people at the time of the events of October 7. Meanwhile, in Israel they talk about Hamas losing 9 thousand militants.
In addition, Hamas still holds 135 hostages, including three Russians: Alexander Trufanov, Andrei Kozlov and Alexander Lobanov. In total, during the last and only truce from November 24 to December 1, 2023, 80 Israelis were exchanged for 240 Palestinians.
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