Representatives of the United States and Britain at the United Nations Security Council meeting called for UN maritime inspection to prevent Iranian missiles from reaching the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen.
Simultaneously with the Security Council meeting on Yemen on Thursday, March 14, reports were released about the Houthis carrying out more attacks in the Red Sea and also about attacks by the US and Britain on Houthi positions within Yemeni territory.
The release of these reports sparked a confrontation between representatives of Russia and China with those of the United States and Britain over the authorization of attacks on Houthi militant positions in Yemen.
Robert A. Wood, the United States envoy to the United Nations, demanded further strengthening of the UN verification and inspection mechanism to counter the shipment of Iranian arms to Houthi ports.
At the request of Saudi Arabia in 2016 and to prevent arms trafficking within humanitarian shipments to Yemen, the UN established a verification and inspection mechanism called UNVIM.
In 2013, the UN inspected at least 26 commercial ships bound for ports under Houthi control, including the strategic port of Hodeidah.
James Kariuki, the deputy British ambassador, supported this request by the United States, saying that inspecting ships to halt the entry of illegal weapons into areas controlled by the Houthis while maintaining the flow of goods to Yemen is essential.
He stated that almost 90 percent of all foodstuffs in Yemen are supplied through commercial imports, so preserving the integrity and functioning of these ports is vital.
The British deputy ambassador added that reports of Iranian ships bypassing these inspections are very concerning.
He emphasized that all ships entering the port of Hodeidah must comply with the UNVIM mechanism and undergo inspection.
In this meeting, Dmitry Andreyevich Polyanski, the Russian deputy envoy, also stated, that the only diplomacy the United States officially recognizes is gunboat diplomacy.
The Russian diplomat said that you can interpret the Houthis’ demands however you want, but it’s hard to deny that the current crisis in the Red Sea is largely due to Israel’s brutal actions against hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Hans Grundberg, the UN Special Representative for Yemen, also said that the escalation of tensions in the Middle East due to Houthi attacks supported by Iran, which target commercial ships in the Red Sea, has complicated the international organization’s mediation efforts in this war-torn country.
The UN Special Representative for Yemen emphasized that mediation in Yemen has become more complicated due to recent developments in the region.
