US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin convened a virtual ministerial today (Tuesday) with senior officials from 43 countries as well as the EU and NATO to discuss the Houthi threat to freedom of navigation and shipping in the Red Sea and American efforts to stop it, according to a press release by the Pentagon.
Austin emphasized that the threat presented by the Iran-backed Houthis to international shipping, involving over 100 drone strikes and missile launches at container ships, affects many countries, as the Red Sea lane involves some 10-15% of overall global shipping, including oil and gas. The Defense Secretary beseeched participants to work with American naval efforts to deal with the Houthi threat in a multilateral manner.
Channel 11 News reporter Roi Kais reported that the Houthis seem unimpressed with the American effort, and that senior Houthi leader Mohammad Abd a-Salam declared that the effort was superfluous, since Houthis were only targeting Israeli-affiliated ships or those en route to Israel.
Kais also reported that the Bahraini news paper al-Ayam said that the American task force was a defensive one meant to protect ships and was not meant for carrying out strikes against the Houthis, which may further explain Houthi realcitrance.