Houthis promise not to target European ships

{"text":[[{"start":8.7,"text":"Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen have written to the EU to say they will not target European ships in the Red Sea, even as the rebels seek to tighten their grip over the key Bab al-Mandeb Strait."}],[{"start":19.8,"text":"In a letter this month to the EU’s foreign and security policy arm, the Houthis sought to reassure Europeans that the militants’ offensive along Yemen’s southern coast was not intended to disrupt international shipping, said two diplomats briefed on the matter."}],[{"start":33.64,"text":"They said it would not affect freedom of navigation through the Bab al-Mandeb, the diplomats said."}],[{"start":39,"text":"The Houthis reignited a more-than-decade-long conflict with Saudi Arabia in July by declaring a blockade on the kingdom’s ports and attacking tankers. But the letter comes as the group seeks to portray its conflict as limited to Saudi Arabia rather than a broader effort to disrupt international shipping."}],[{"start":54.986,"text":"It was sent as container shipping companies increased services through the Suez Canal, bringing numbers of vessels travelling through the Bab al-Mandeb — a strategic waterway that links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean — to their highest levels in almost three years."}],[{"start":70.32,"text":"One of the diplomats said the Houthis sent their letter to the EU’s diplomatic service on September 10, the day on which the rebels seized the Yemeni port of Mocha."}],[{"start":79.76,"text":"The militants went on to capture several islands in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb after repelling Saudi-backed fighters aligned to Yemen’s government."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":87.56,"text":"The rebels have also assured the US they will not target American ships after Oman facilitated talks with the Trump administration. US President Donald Trump said this month the Houthis, who he has designated as a terrorist group, had called Washington to say “they don’t want to fight with us”."}],[{"start":104.432,"text":"“They don’t want us to go after them,” Trump said. “They’re letting most ships go through. There’s just one country that they’re not too happy with, and we’ll get that straightened out.”"}],[{"start":122.12,"text":"However, the fresh Houthi offensive — which shattered a 2022 ceasefire with Saudi Arabia — has unnerved international shipping companies, particularly tanker owners, at a time when Iran is throttling traffic through the Strait of Hormuz as part of its war with the US."}],[{"start":129.528,"text":"Oil prices eased on Friday, with global benchmark Brent crude settling 2.1 per cent lower to $104.32 a barrel. US marker West Texas Intermediate dropped 2.3 per cent to $92.41."}],[{"start":144,"text":"Over the past month, fewer tankers have been picking up cargoes from the Saudi Arabian port of Yanbu. But at the same time, container shipping companies have brought back services to the Suez Canal, pushing vessel numbers through the Bab al-Mandeb strait to their highest level since October 2023."}],[{"start":162.339,"text":"Following recent announcements of increased services by major shipping lines such as Maersk and CMA CGM, container shipping travelling through the Red Sea has now reached almost 30 per cent of pre-2023 levels when measured by capacity, according to maritime analysis company Xeneta."}],[{"start":180.705,"text":"“There has been no attack on container ships for over a year, despite the . . . increasing number of ships transiting through Bab al-Mandeb. So I think the absence of intent is verified in the data,” said Vincent Clerc, Maersk’s chief executive."}],[{"start":194.489,"text":"Decisions on sending vessels through the strait were taken daily using information from US, UK and Nato sources, he added."}],[{"start":202.296,"text":"Tankers, meanwhile, were typically travelling through the Bab al-Mandeb with their GPS signals on before turning them off as they approached Saudi ports in order to disguise the origin of their cargoes, said Windward, the marine data company."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":216.092,"text":"The Houthis, who control Yemen’s capital and much of the nation’s populous north, previously disrupted maritime traffic through the Red Sea for almost two years after Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack triggered Israel’s war in Gaza."}],[{"start":230.96,"text":"The EU is holding discussions with Saudi Arabia about combining maritime task forces to protect shipping in the region, diplomats said."}],[{"start":238.46,"text":"Riyadh said in July it was establishing a naval coalition with a dozen other regional states, while the EU has operated a naval mission to protect shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, including Bab al-Mandeb, for more than two years."}],[{"start":253.2,"text":"“Houthis have reached out to diplomats on the ground. We don’t comment on diplomatic correspondence,” said European External Action Service spokesperson Anouar El Anouni."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":264.7,"text":"EU foreign ministers meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this week discussed the Gulf and Houthi aggression. The EU’s chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said they had “raised the worsening situation in the Red Sea, which is already affecting European interests,” adding, “Houthi attacks also sabotage the global economy.”"}],[{"start":281.5,"text":"Saudi Arabia has been reaching out to western and regional allies since the Houthis renewed their attacks in July. The rebels escalated the conflict this month, firing almost daily missile and drone barrages at oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and launching their offensive southwards along Yemen’s Red Sea coast."}],[{"start":301.72,"text":"The US has so far rejected Riyadh’s appeals to support its campaign against the Houthis, but it and other nations are providing defensive support."}],[{"start":311.46,"text":"French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France would send troops and defence systems to Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port, which hosts vital oil infrastructure."}],[{"start":318.632,"text":"“We are going to send military resources, that is to say, soldiers, radar systems and defence systems, to protect this site,” but “not to get us involved in any conflicts,” Macron told French media."}],[{"start":331.14,"text":"UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said this week that Britain would deploy a Royal Air Force Voyager refuelling aircraft to Saudi Arabia for “defensive air-to-air refuelling”."}],[{"start":341.12,"text":"Additional reporting by Sarah White in Paris"}],[{"start":346.44,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1790552380_7924.mp3"}