BBC: Both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden cited the global economic impact of Houthi attacks on Red Sea cargo ships in overnight statements as the reasoning behind military action.
The Treasury has modelled scenarios suggesting that disruption in the Red Sea could further shrink the UK economy, risking a recession.
The main fear in the Treasury's analyses is of a rise of at least $10 per barrel in the international price of crude oil and a 25% increase in the price of natural gas.
Rises such as these have not actually materialised, so far, mainly because of the actions of Saudi Arabia - the major oil producing nation - in soothing global energy markets with price cuts.
The US and UK will hope that their overnight strikes on Iran-backed Houthi rebels will help reverse widespread delays and disruption to Red Sea trading routes, by re-establishing safe passage through the Bab-al-Mandeb Strait into the Suez Canal.
But, on the other hand, there is now also a clear pathway of escalation to a wider Middle East conflict. » | Faisal Islam, Economics editor | Friday, January 12, 2024
Showing posts with label Red Sea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Red Sea. Show all posts
Friday, January 12, 2024
Houthi Attacks Mark the Beginning of Conflict over the Red Sea and the Gulf
Wednesday, November 01, 2023
Israel Rushes Missile Boats to Red Sea after Yemen’s Houthis Declare War
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran-backed movement says it has launched three attacks towards Israel since Oct 7 and vows more ‘to help Palestinians to victory’
Israel deployed warships to the Red Sea on Wednesday after Yemen’s Houthis declared war and launched a ballistic missile at an Israeli city.
Images released by the Israeli military showed Sa’ar-class corvettes patrolling near Eilat port in the Red Sea, which Israel sees as a new front as its war in Gaza draws retaliation from Iran-backed forces elsewhere in the region.
On Tuesday, the Houthis said they had launched three drone and missile attacks towards Israel since the start of the Hamas-Israel war on Oct 7. They vowed there would be more such attacks “to help the Palestinians to victory”.
The Israeli military used its Arrow missile defence system for the first time to intercept an “aerial threat” over the Red Sea, believed to have been a ballistic missile. » | Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Israel deployed warships to the Red Sea on Wednesday after Yemen’s Houthis declared war and launched a ballistic missile at an Israeli city.
Images released by the Israeli military showed Sa’ar-class corvettes patrolling near Eilat port in the Red Sea, which Israel sees as a new front as its war in Gaza draws retaliation from Iran-backed forces elsewhere in the region.
On Tuesday, the Houthis said they had launched three drone and missile attacks towards Israel since the start of the Hamas-Israel war on Oct 7. They vowed there would be more such attacks “to help the Palestinians to victory”.
The Israeli military used its Arrow missile defence system for the first time to intercept an “aerial threat” over the Red Sea, believed to have been a ballistic missile. » | Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Inside Story: Why Are So Many Countries Expanding Their Presence in the Red Sea?
The list of countries already in the region or building bases there include: Saudi Arabia, China, Israel, United Arab Emirates and the US. The US and European Union maintain regular security patrols. But the Red Sea is also one of the world's busiest maritime gateways for transporting oil. So, why is there a sudden interest in the Red Sea region?
Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra | Guests: Metin Gurcan - Security Analyst and Columnist for Al Monitor; James Moran - Associate Senior Research Fellow, Centre for European Policy; Mamoun Abu Nowar - Retired Jordanian Air Force General
Monday, August 02, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: A suspected short-range rocket salvo from the Egyptian Sinai, an area where Islamist militants have operated in the past, have struck Red Sea ports in Israel and Jordan.
Several rockets hit the Israeli holiday resort of Eilat, while four people were injured when further rockets hit the nearby Jordanian port of Aqaba.
There was no word of casualties in Eilat, District Port Commander Moshe Cohen said, adding that his forces were still trying to confirm that five explosions heard in the morning had been caused by shelling.
Mr Cohen told Israel Radio that two of the suspected rockets or mortar bombs appeared to have landed in the sea, while another struck the nearby Jordanian port of Aqaba.
Asked where the salvo was launched, Mr Cohen said: "It's a little early to say, but it is reasonable to assume that it came from the southern area."
He was referring to neighbouring Egypt and the Sinai desert which is known for Islamist militant acitivty. >>> | Monday, August 02, 2010
Monday, February 08, 2010
BBC: A Yemen-based offshoot of al-Qaeda has called on Muslims in the region to wage holy war against the US and its allies.
A purported audio statement by Said al-Shihri, deputy leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, warned "American and Crusader interests are everywhere".
"Attack them and eliminate as many enemies as you can," Mr Shihri urged.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has said it was behind a failed bomb attack on a US passenger jet as it flew into Detroit on Christmas Day.
A Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has been charged with attempting to blow up the Northwest Airlines Airbus A330.
He has allegedly said AQAP operatives trained him in Yemen, equipped him with a powerful explosive device and told him what to do.
'Glorious invasion'
In an audio message posted on a jihadist website, Mr Shihri praised the "glorious invasion" by Mr Abdulmutallab and said it had been carried out in co-ordination with al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
"We repeat what our Sheikh Osama said, that America will not dream of security until we live in security in Palestine," he said, referring to a purported audio statement issued by the Saudi militant leader last month.
Mr Shihri, a Saudi national who was released from the US military detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in November 2007, urged Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula to "prepare and carry your weapons and to defend your religion and yourselves, and to join your mujahideen brothers".
"The Christians, the Jews and the treacherous apostate rulers have pounced on you," he said. "You have no other way out from this plight other than to wage jihad." >>> | Monday, February 08, 2010
VOICE OF AMERICA: Al-Qaida Threatens to Attack US Interests 'Everywhere' >>> | Monday, February 08, 2010
REUTERS INDIA: DUBAI - The Yemen-based wing of al Qaeda, in a recording posted on the Internet on Monday, called on Somali insurgents to help gain control over a narrow strait at the mouth of the Red Sea to block U.S. shipments to Israel.
The wing's deputy leader, Saeed al-Shehri, urged Somalia's al Shabaab Islamist insurgents to help return the Bab al Mandab strait, which separates Yemen from the Horn of Africa, "to the lands of Islam".
"At such a time the Bab (al Mandab) will be closed and that will tighten the noose on the Jews (Israel), because through it America supports them by the Red Sea," Shehri said in the audio recording posted on a website often used by Islamist groups. >>> Editing by Michael Roddy | Tuesday, February 09, 2010
20 MINUTES ONLINE: Le numéro deux d'Al-Qaïda au Yémen a appelé ses partisans à attaquer «partout les intérêts américains et croisés».
Saïd al-Shihri a affirmé l'ambition du réseau de prendre le contrôle d'un détroit stratégique commandant l'entrée de la mer Rouge.
Dans un message audio mis en ligne lundi sur un site islamiste, Saïd al-Shihri, recherché par les autorités yéménites, exhorte les musulmans à «proclamer le jihad».
«Les intérêts américains et croisés se trouvent partout, et leurs agents se déplacent partout. Attaquez-les et éliminez autant d'ennemis que vous pouvez», lance le numéro deux d'Al-Qaïda dans la péninsule arabique (Aqpa).
Il accuse «les croisés et les sionistes» de mener «une invasion haineuse du Yémen» et appelle les tribus, très influentes et qui contrôlent de vastes régions échappant au contrôle du gouvernement, à «attaquer les agents qui complotent avec les croisés contre les musulmans». >>> ats/afp | Lundi 08 Février 2010
NZZ ONLINE: Der Ableger des Terrornetzwerks al-Kaida in Jemen hat zu Anschlägen gegen die saudiarabische Herrscherfamilie und gegen US-Einrichtungen in der Region aufgerufen.
Die am Montag im Internet verbreitete Audio-Botschaft der Kaida stammt von Said al-Jiri und ist das erste Lebenszeichen des stellvertretenden Führers der Kaida auf der Arabischen Halbinsel (AQAP) seit dem 24. Dezember. >>> ddp | Montag, 08. Februar 2010
Thursday, July 16, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Two Israeli missile class warships have sailed through the Suez Canal ten days after a submarine capable of launching a nuclear missile strike, in preparation for a possible attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The deployment into the Red Sea, confirmed by Israeli officials, was a clear signal that Israel was able to put its strike force within range of Iran at short notice. It came before long-range exercises by the Israeli air force in America later this month and the test of a missile defence shield at a US missile range in the Pacific Ocean.
Israel has strengthened ties with Arab nations who also fear a nuclear-armed Iran. In particular, relations with Egypt have grown increasingly strong this year over the “shared mutual distrust of Iran”, according to one Israeli diplomat. Israeli naval vessels would likely pass through the Suez Canal for an Iranian strike.
“This is preparation that should be taken seriously. Israel is investing time in preparing itself for the complexity of an attack on Iran. These manoeuvres are a message to Iran that Israel will follow up on its threats,” an Israeli defence official said.
It is believed that Israel’s missile-equipped submarines, and its fleet of advanced aircraft, could be used to strike at in excess of a dozen nuclear-related targets more than 800 miles from Israel.
Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the Egyptian Foreign Minister, said that his Government explicitly allowed passage of Israeli vessels, and an Israeli admiral said that the drills were “run regularly with the full co-operation of the Egyptians.” >>> Sheera Frenkel in Jerusalem | Thursday, July 16, 2009
VOA: Israel: Iran Will Be Destroyed if It Launches Nuclear Attack
Israel has warned Iran of catastrophic consequences if it attacks the Jewish state with weapons of mass destruction. Israel's national security advisor says Iran will be destroyed if it dares to launch a nuclear attack on the Jewish state. In an interview published Friday in the Hebrew daily Ha'aretz, Uzi Arad said Israel must have "tremendously powerful" weapons to deter or retaliate for a nuclear strike. That seemed to be a clear reference to Israel's reported nuclear arsenal, though it has never admitted to having nuclear weapons. Arad described a nuclear Iran as a "nightmare for Israel."
In a speech last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that a nuclear Iran is not only a threat to Israel, but also to Western civilization. >>> Robert Berger | Friday, July 10, 2009
HAARETZ: Defense Official: Israel Readying for Attack on Iran
Israel's recent deployment of warships across the Red Sea should be seen as serious preparation for an attack on Iran, an Israeli defense official told the Times of London on Thursday.
"This is preparation that should be taken seriously. Israel is investing time in preparing itself for the complexity of an attack on Iran. These maneuvers are a message to Iran that Israel will follow up on its threats," the official was quoted as saying.
Earlier this week, two Israel Navy gunboats openly sailed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea. The ships that passed through the Suez Canal on Tuesday were two Sa'ar 5 gunboats, the Hanit and the Eilat. This follows a similar incident in late June, when an Israeli Dolphin-class submarine passed through the canal, later returning the same way.
The move, apparently coordinated with Egypt, is seen as a warning message to Middle Eastern radicals, first and foremost Iran. >>> By Amos Harel, Anshel Pfeffer and Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service | Thursday, July 16, 2009
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