Yemen's UN envoy warned on Tuesday that the Bab Al Mandeb strait was at risk of becoming a “blackmail card” in the hands of a “transnational terrorist” group, urging countries to share responsibility for securing the strategic waterway.
Abdullah Al Saadi told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Yemen acknowledged the Houthis' control of the area around the strait.
“The question is whether the international community will accept for one of the world's most important gateways for trade and energy to become a blackmail card in the hands of a transnational terrorist group,” Mr Al Saadi said
“Yemen is not asking the world to defend it. Yemen is already defending the interests of the world."
The meeting was requested by Greece, Bahrain, Britain, France, Latvia and Denmark.
Mr Al Saadi said that while the Bab Al Mandeb strait lies within Yemen's territory and waters, its security has consequences far beyond the country.
“Every ship that crosses this strait, every shipment, every energy shipment, and every supply chain that depends on it makes its security part of the economic security of countries thousands of kilometres away from Yemen,” he said.
“Yemenis who are defending their coasts, waters and the Bab Al Mandeb strait today are standing on the front lines of defence of an international corridor on which the entire world's interests hinge,” he added.
The Houthis have been fighting Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces since the country's civil war flared again in July. The Iran-backed group also declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and began attacking Saudi-linked ships in the Red Sea.
The Houthis made rapid territorial gains last week, seizing Yemen's entire Red Sea coastline and control of the Bab Al Mandeb strait. The waterway has taken on greater importance for Saudi oil exports as the wider regional war disrupts shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Britain's deputy UN ambassador Kate Foster said the Houthi escalation "did not occur in a vacuum".
"Iran’s longstanding support to the Houthis continues to enable attacks that threaten civilians, neighbouring states, maritime security and prospects for peace," Ms Foster said.
She called on all member states to "fully implement" their obligations, including measures to prevent the transfer of arms and military support to the Houthis.
Pakistan's UN ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad supported Saudi Arabia's right to defend itself and warned that the expansion of Houthi attacks around the Bab Al Mandeb posed a growing threat to international shipping.
“The problem also lies in the fact that this initially internal conflict is now spilling beyond national borders and has repercussions affecting the entire Middle East,” he said. “We're very concerned by the consequential stabilisation of navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab Al Mandeb strait.”
