Royal Navy: UK "considering air strikes" against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels following Red Sea attacks

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the Government would not hesitate to take “direct action” to prevent further attacks amid reports the UK and US are preparing a joint statement to issue a final warning to the Yemeni group. The Portsmouth-based warship HMS Diamond was deployed to the area in early December, with HMS Lancaster and other Royal Navy assets nearby. The Type 45 destroyer is among American and French forces as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian.

It comes after the US military said four boats from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen fired at the Maersk Hangzhou and got within metres of the vessel as US helicopters fired back. Several of the armed boat crews were killed, the US Central Command (Centcom) said. No-one was injured on the ship.

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Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Shapps said the UK “won’t hesitate to take further action to deter threats to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea”. “The Houthis should be under no misunderstanding: We are committed to holding malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks,” he said.

The Sun and the Telegraph have reported the UK is weighing up the possibility of an armed response as the Iran-backed Houthis claim attacks on ships in the Red Sea that they say are either linked to Israel or heading to Israeli ports. They say their attacks aim to end Israel’s air and ground offensive targeting the Gaza Strip following the attack by Hamas on October 7.

UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said he had spoken to Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, on Sunday. “I spoke to @Amirabdolahian today about Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, which threaten innocent lives and the global economy. I made clear that Iran shares responsibility for preventing these attacks given their long-standing support to the Houthis,” he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

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Mr Shapps condemned what he described as an “outrageous” bid to disrupt global trade. A UK 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 Singapore-flagged Maersk Hangzhou reported that it had already been hit by a missile on Saturday night while transiting the Southern Red Sea and requested assistance, Centcom said in a statement. They added that the same ship issued an additional distress call about a second attack “by four Iranian-backed Houthi small boats”. The attackers fired small arms weapons at the Maersk Hangzhou, getting to within about 65ft (20m) of the vessel, and a contract-embarked security team on the ship returned fire, Centcom said.

The statement added that US helicopters responded to the distress call and returned fire after the small boats crews opened fire on the helicopters using small arms.