US attacks Houthi anti-ship missiles, vessel hit in Red Sea

The US military carried out new strikes in Yemen on Tuesday against anti-ship ballistic missiles in a Houthi-controlled part of the country as a missile struck a Greek-owned vessel in the Red Sea.

Attacks by Houthis on ships in the region since November have affected companies and alarmed major powers – an escalation of Israel’s more than three-month-old war with Hamas in Gaza. The Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians and have threatened to expand attacks to include US ships in response to American and British strikes on their sites in Yemen.

In a bid to cut off their funding and supply of weapons, US President Joe Biden’s administration plans to put Houthi rebels back on a US list of terrorist organizations, two officials told Reuters.

The Biden administration in 2021 had taken the Houthis off two lists designating them as terrorists, reversing a decision by former President Donald Trump. The latest move would put the Houthis back on one of the two lists, marking them as “specially designated global terrorists.”

The White House said additional US strikes on Tuesday took out ballistic missiles Houthis were ready to launch, confirming a Reuters story earlier, citing US officials, that a new strike was launched at four anti-ship missiles. The strike had not been previously reported.

“We’re not looking to expand this. The Houthis have a choice to make and they still have time to make the right choice, which is to stop these reckless attacks,” White House spokesperson John Kirby said.

France chose not take part in the US-led strikes because it wants to avoid a regional escalation, President Emmanuel Macron told a news conference. The country has a “defensive” approach in the Red Sea and would stick to this stance, Macron said.

Two heads of international banking groups attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos said privately that they were worried the crisis might cause inflationary pressures that could ultimately delay or reverse interest rate cuts and jeopardise hopes for a U.S. economic soft landing.