Britain is preparing to launch air strikes against Iran-backed Houthi militants in the Red Sea if rebels continue to fire at vessels in the region.
Under the plans, the UK will reportedly join forces with the US and another European country to unleash the strikes against targets based in the ocean or in Yemen, where the attacks are being coordinated from. according to reports first published in The Times.
It comes after Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary, said on Sunday: “If the Houthis continue to threaten lives and trade, we will be forced to take the necessary and appropriate action.”
A Whitehall source told The Times that Mr Shapps’s comments were a “last warning”, and if the Houthis failed to stop the attacks, the response by the West would likely be “limited” but “significant”.
The UK and US are set to release an unprecedented joint statement in the coming hours that will warn the Houthis to stop attacking commercial vessels or face the military might of the West, according to the paper.
A Government spokesperson said: “The situation in the Red Sea is incredibly serious, and the Houthi attacks are unacceptable and destabilising. As you would expect, while planning is underway for a range of scenarios, no decisions have yet been made and we continue to pursue all diplomatic routes.
“We call for the Iranian-backed Houthi to cease these illegal attacks and we are working with allies and partners to protect freedom of navigation.”
The attacks have disrupted world trade, with major shipping companies taking the longer and costlier route around the Africa’s Cape of Good Hope rather than through the Suez Canal.
Last month, the UK confirmed it was joining an international naval taskforce spearheaded by the US to protect shipping in the region.
Houthi rebels attacked a container vessel belonging to Danish shipping company Maersk on Saturday evening, prompting the company to pause all sailing through the Red Sea for 48 hours.
