INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Security Council on Wednesday demanded Yemen&s Houthis immediately end attacks on ships in the Red Sea and cautioned against escalating
tensions while implicitly endorsing a United States -led task force that has been defending vessels, Reuters reported.The demand came in a
Security Council resolution that also called on the Houthis to release the Galaxy Leader, a Japanese-operated vehicle carrier linked to an
Israeli businessman that the group commandeered on Nov
19, and its 25-person crew.Eleven members voted for the measure demanding the Houthis &immediately cease all attacks, which impede global
commerce and navigational rights and freedoms as well as regional peace.Four members, including veto-wielding Russia and China, abstained
None voted against.The key provision of the resolution, sponsored by the United States and Japan, noted the right of U.N
member states, in accordance with international law, ''to defend their vessels from attack, including those that undermine navigational
rights and freedoms.The provision amounted to an implicit endorsement of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a United States -led multinational
naval task force that has been defending commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden from Houthi missile and drone attacks.The threat
to navigational rights and freedoms in the Red Sea is a global challenge that necessitates a global response,& United States Ambassador
Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in urging the council to approve the resolution.The Houthis, an Iran-aligned group that seized much of Yemen in
a civil war, have vowed to attack ships linked to Israel or bound for Israeli ports to show support for Hamas Islamists battling the Israeli
However, many of the targeted ships have had no links to Israel, reported.The United States accuses Iran of providing critical support for
the Houthi attacks, including advanced missiles and drones, in violation of U.N
Security Council resolutions
Tehran denies the allegation.The Houthi spokesman in Yemen, Mohammed Abdul Salam, dismissed the UN resolution as a &political game& and said
the United States was the one violating international law.The council voted after rejecting amendments proposed by Russia that would have
stripped out the implicit endorsement of the United States -led task force and included the war in Gaza among the &root causes& of the
Houthi strikes.Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia questioned the legitimacy of the task force and said the resolution as drafted was &an
open-ended blessing of it.The Houthi attacks have disrupted maritime commerce, prompting some shipping lines to divert vessels from the Red
Sea to longer routes, threatening to increase energy and food prices.In the latest strikes, Washington said United States and British
warships on Tuesday shot down 21 drones and missiles fired by the Houthis at southern Red Sea shipping lanes in what London called the
largest such attack in the area.United States Central Command said there have been 26 Houthi strikes on shipping since the Houthis seized
the Galaxy Leader, reported.The post UN Security Council demands Houthis stop Red Sea attacks first appeared on Ariana News.
