The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday passed a resolution demanding Houthi rebels cease attacking shipping vessels in the Red Sea and release the Galaxy Leader vessel it seized along with its 25-member crew in November. File Photo by Houthi Media Center/EPA-EFE
Jan. 11 (UPI) — The United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution demanding Iran-backed Houthi rebels immediately cease attacking shipping vessels transiting the Red Sea.
The resolution passed the council in a 11-0 vote on Wednesday with four abstentions from Russia, Algeria, China and Mozambique.
The document, originally drafted by the United States and Japan, calls for the Houthis to end their attacks and to immediately release the Galaxy Leader Japanese vessel and its 25-member crew that it seized Nov. 19 as it was transiting the important trade route.
It also highlights member states’ right to defend their vessels from such attacks including those that threaten navigational rights and freedoms.
Russia attempted to add three amendments to the document, one of which would have tied the attacks to the war between Israel and Hamas and another that would have deleted the reference to member states’ right to defend the shipping vessels, but were all rejected.
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield derided the last-minute amendments from Russia, calling them “divorced from reality,” stating it would have further embolden the Houthis and “established a dangerous precedent for the council to legitimize these violations of international law.”
“And so, what is at issue here is not any particular conflict — but rather — the simple principle of upholding freedom of navigation in a waterway vital to the free flow of global commerce,” she told the council.
“This council should never legitimize brazen violations of international law. Period.”
Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s representative at the United Nations, defended the amendment, stating they are concerned about the United States’ recently announced Operation Prosperity Guardian coalition of some 20 countries that will patrol the sea route and respond to attacks.
He accused the United States and its allies of choosing “the path of resolving the problem unilaterally by force.”
“We should not have any illusions about the true goals of the authors of the resolution,” he told the council. “This is not about ensuring the safety of navigation in the Red Sea at all, but an attempt to legitimize — post-factum — the actions of the aforementioned ‘coalition’ and have Security Council’s endorsement for an unlimited time.”
The vote was held a day after the Houthis conducted what is believed to have been its largest attack yet, launching multiple drones and anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles from areas of Yemen under its control toward dozens of shipping vessels transiting the Red Sea.
The projectiles and missiles were intercepted and downed by U.S. and British military warships, U.S. Central Command said, remarking that no shipping vessels appeared to have been damaged.
It was the 26th Houthi attack on Red Sea commercial shipping lanes since Nov. 19.
The rebels have vowed to hit every Israel-bound ship transiting the Red Sea, which accounts for between 10% and 15% of global trade, in retaliation over Israel’s war against another Iran-backed militant group, Hamas, in Gaza. However, Houthis seem to have expanded the targets of their attacks to all ships.
The attacks have already impacted trade, with a U.N. official recently stating at least 18 shipping companies have reported their vessels around South Africa, which adds 10 days to their trip.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has assessed 55 nations have direct connections to the ships that have been attacked.
The attacks have also increased fears of the war in Israel expanding.
The vote on Wednesday followed the United States and its allies on the 15-member U.N. body last week calling on the Security Council to take action on the situation during an emergency meeting.
“Colleagues, the threat to navigational rights and freedoms in the Red Sea is a global challenge that necessitates a global response,” Thomas-Greenfield told the council Wednesday prior to the vote.
“The basic principle of freedom of navigation is at stake. And the Houthis, and anyone who enables them, need to hear a clear message from this Council: these attacks must stop.”