US, UK launch airstrikes against Houthis in Yemen after Red Sea attacks, Rishi Sunak says 'necessary, proportionate'

The United States-backed coalition including the United Kingdom launched airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen amid growing crisis in oil-rich West Asia. The US and UK launched airstrike across Yemen escalates a conflict in response to a string of Red Sea attacks by Houthis that have disrupted commercial shipping.

Notably, the spill over from the war between Benjamin Netanyahu's Israel and Hamas fighters in Gaza had been flagged repeatedly by US when Tel Aviv began a relentless airstrike campaign in the densely populated Gaza Strip. 

President Joe Biden said that the strikes in Yemen targeting Houthi rebels was meant to demonstrate that US and its allies “will not tolerate” the group’s attacks on the Red Sea.

Further, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also issued a statement on the airstrikes conducted across Yemen. The UK PM called the air strikes targeting Houthi rebels as “necessary and proportionate”. 

"Despite the repeated warnings from the international community, the Houthis have continued to carry out attacks in the Red Sea," PM Sunak said. 

"We have therefore taken limited, necessary and proportionate action in self-defence, alongside the United States... to degrade Houthi military capabilities and protect global shipping."

According to Bloomberg report, oil prices jumped as as result of US and UK launching airstrikes on the Houthi rebels. 

Yemen's Houthi rebels have reportedly been launching attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea for weeks, including their largest barrage ever of drones and missiles launched late Tuesday. Notably largest shipping company Maersk had also ceased operations owing to the attacks in Red Sea. 

US-led forces launched retaliatory strikes early Friday.

Further on Thursday Iran's navy captured an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman that only months earlier had seen its cargo of Iranian oil seized by the United States over sanctions linked to Tehran's nuclear program.

The vessel was previously known as the Suez Rajan when it was involved in a yearlong dispute beginning in 2021 that saw the US Justice Department take the 1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil on it.

The US and its allies have been seizing Iranian oil cargoes since 2019 to enforce sanctions over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. This has led to a series of attacks in the middle east attributed to the Islamic Republic, as well as ship seizures by Iranian military and paramilitary forces that threaten global shipping.

The Houthis have noted that their attacks are aimed at halting the suffering of Palestinians in Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. However, the rebels have increasingly targeted ships with tenuous or no ties to Israel.

Oil has been buffeted since the start of the year. While the tensions in the Middle East have supported crude, concerns about rising non-OPEC supply, deep pricing cuts by Saudi Arabia, and expanding US stockpiles have hurt prices, reports Bloomberg. 

(With agency inputs)