Houthi militants protest in Yemen's capital Sanaa, following US and British troops; strikes Photo: AFP
Grant Shapps warned Iran that the world was “running out of patience” after Britain and America launched air strikes against Tehran-backed Houthi rebels.
In an interview with The Telegraph, the Defense Secretary said the Iranian regime must order the Houthis and other Middle Eastern proxies to “cease resistance”, warning that “the line has truly been crossed.”
RAF Typhoon jets launched bombs on Thursday evening laser-guided Paveway IV on two Houthi-controlled sites in Yemen in a raid that the government says has significantly reduced the group's ability to attack commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
< p>The mission was carried out by US forces, which used air, sea and submarine assets in the Red Sea to attack more than 60 Houthi targets linked to 27 attacks since November.
Early on Saturday, news agencies reported officials said The US military launched an additional strike against the Houthis in Yemen a day after the attacks began. One official said the additional target was a radar station.
Asked what his message to Iran would be, Mr Shapps replied: «You have to get the Houthi rebels, others who act as your proxies, Lebanese Hezbollah are the obvious examples, [and] some in Iraq and Syria, you need to get these different organizations to cease and desist because we, the world, are running out of patience.
“We see you, we see right through what you're doing. We see how you do this, especially the Houthi rebels, and it will not do any good.”
Rishi Sunak said on Friday the strikes were aimed at warning the Houthis that further attacks would lead to Western reprisals. “Such behavior cannot be met without a response,” he said during a visit to Kyiv. “We need to send a clear message that this violation of international law is wrong. People cannot act like this with impunity.”
Late Friday, Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, the top U.S. Army officer, said the U.S. and U.K. had deployed more than 150 munitions against control centers, ammunition depots, launch systems, manufacturing facilities and air defense radar systems.
“On “At the moment we continue to assess combat damage to various targets,” he said. «We're very confident about where our munitions hit.»
The Pentagon said it was confident the strikes damaged the Houthis' ability to carry out attacks in the Red Sea.
Britain's aircraft carriers are not ready to deploy to the region due to a staffing crisis engulfing the Armed Forces, The Telegraph can reveal. Despite calls to send HMS Queen Elizabeth, Britain's £3 billion aircraft carrier, to the Red Sea, it cannot be deployed because its support ship RFA Fort Victoria is operating with a minimal crew and remains at the Liverpool shipyard.
Mr Shapps said: “We are acting in self-defence due to the shipping situation and the attack on HMS Diamond. Iran has an important role to play here, and it must understand that it needs to make it clearer to its many proxies in the region that nothing good will come of this, and that everyone will lose if they continue down this path.
“Fundamentally, we cannot allow bandits to target international shipments and put them at risk. It is only a matter of time before completely innocent people die, [who] have absolutely nothing to do with what is happening in the conflict between Israel and the Gaza Strip.”
Mr Shapps also backed the decision not to allow MPs to vote on industrial action before it takes place. He said: «If you had to go through a parliamentary process, it… would potentially degrade the quality of the operation itself.»
The Defense Secretary's comments came after the US insisted the strikes were not an attack on Iran.
Joe Biden wrote in a statement to the leaders of both houses of Congress: «The strikes were carried out to deter and weaken the Houthis' ability to carry out future attacks, and were carried out in a manner that limited the risk of escalation and avoided civilian casualties.»
< p>Asked whether air strikes would continue, Biden replied: “We will make sure we respond to the Houthis if they continue this outrageous behavior with our allies.”
On Friday, a rift emerged between them. EU countries over attacks on Yemen, with Italy and France refusing to join the military action or support a statement justifying it. The Netherlands, along with Australia, Canada and Bahrain, provided logistical and intelligence support to the US and UK strikes.
Source in Italian government told Reuters that Georgia Meloni's administration refused to participate because the country wanted to pursue a «calming» policy in the Red Sea.
Antonio Tajani, deputy prime minister, said Italy could not participate on such short notice “because the constitution does not allow us to take military action without discussion in parliament.”
It is believed that the French government believed that strikes against the Houthis would hinder its attempts to de-escalate the conflict in Lebanon. Rear Admiral Emmanuel Slaars, commander of French naval forces in the region, said he had no mandate to directly attack the Houthis.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's president, blamed the UK-US alliance for the coup. The Red Sea has become a «sea of blood» with a «disproportionate use of force».
The UK and US insist the strikes were carried out in self-defence and on behalf of naval and commercial vessels from various countries that have come under attack in recent times weeks.
Retaliation Warning
Houthi commanders have vowed to retaliate. The US and UK for the strikes, which the rebels say killed five militants and wounded six others.
“The American and British enemy bears full responsibility for this criminal aggression against our Yemeni people, and he does not will go unanswered and unpunished,” the group said in a statement.
A British maritime security firm said Friday that Houthi militants mistakenly targeted a Russian oil tanker during a missile attack off the coast of Yemen.< /p>
It was reported that a missile was fired at the ship, but no one was injured. or damage.
Security firm Ambrey said it believed it had been targeted in error because outdated information suggested it was linked to the UK.
A US assessment of the strikes released on Friday morning said they were “successful”.
However, despite the fact that London and Washington issued strong warnings to the Houthis, the White House said it was “not looking for conflict” with Iran, and hopes that the situation can now be resolved through diplomatic means .
«We are not seeking to escalate, and there is no reason for it to escalate beyond what has happened in the last few days,» John Kirby, a US national security spokesman, told MSNBC.
«We know that Iran supports the Houthis. We know they are supplying them with missiles and drones, the same weapons they used to attack ships, and we have made it very clear that Iran must stop that support.»
Grant Shapps visited BAE Systems at Wharton on Thursday. Photo: Ministry of Defense. 'We can't allow thugs to stop the delivery'
Ben Riley-Smith
Grant Shapps was lying in bed at his constituency home in Hertfordshire when news broke that a British mission was targeting Houthi targets in Yemen was a success.
The Defense Secretary monitored the operation through his phone, sending secure messages with updates and periodically leaving his bedroom to take calls.
One word came to mind when I heard that the British pilots had returned to base in Cyprus. early on Friday morning, pulling the trigger at 11.30pm on Thursday.
«I can't think of a better word than relief to have all our crews back,» Mr Shapps told The Telegraph in an exclusive interview Friday, discussing last night's raids.
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