Keir Starmer must wake up - Houthis have to be dealt with to end Red Sea chaos

The Houthi rebels in Yemen are now in the firing line as the next militant group about to feel the wrath of the West. Their insurgency against the internationally-recognised government of Yemen started way back in 2004, and after two decades of conflict the civil war there is still ongoing. The Houthis now control a sizeable part of north-western Yemen, including much of the coastline along the Red Sea.

Following the Hamas attack on Israel of October 2023 and the Israeli military reaction against Gaza, the Houthis entered the war against Israel in support of Hamas. Their chosen tactics have been to lob Iranian-supplied ballistic missiles and drones against Israel and Saudi Arabia, an old foe, but perhaps more effectively to launch attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

To date they have launched hundreds of attacks against international commercial shipping and naval vessels, on the pretext that the vessels are somehow in support of Israel. So far four ships have been sunk and at least one seized by the rebels, and trade via the Suez Canal has been severely disrupted.

In the latest attack the Liberian-flagged, Greek-operated Eternity C was carrying 25 crew members when it sustained significant damage and lost all propulsion after being hit by rocket-propelled grenades fired from small boats earlier this week

The Houthis killed at least four crew members and took up to 21 crew members hostage. The rebels appear to have added hostage-taking to their efforts to discourage international shipping companies from shipping goods to Israel. This is another part of the long Houthi campaign to "blockade" Israel and impose economic costs for Israel's operations in the Gaza Strip.

This is the second vessel the Houthis have sunk in a week, after they launched missiles and drones last Sunday at another Liberian-flagged, Greek-operated cargo ship the Magic Seas, which they claim belonged to a company that violated the "entry ban to the ports of occupied Palestine".

The rebels released video footage which they say showed armed men boarding the vessel and setting off explosive charges which sank it.

This sort of high seas banditry cannot, of course, be tolerated, and retribution will follow in due course. But what we should remember is that the Houthis are armed proxies for Iran, the fount of all evil in the Middle East. And, like Iran's other proxies in the region, the Day of Judgement is coming. Just look at what happened to Hezbollah, Hamas, and the other regional ne'er-do-wells sponsored by Tehran.

Any doubt that Iran poses a threat to the UK itself has now been dispelled by a report on Iran published today (10 July) by the Intelligence and Security Committee of the UK. At 260 pages it's a long read, but significant passages include:

"Iran poses a significant security risk to the UK. Iran believes the UK to be a significant adversary - albeit one that sits behind the Unites States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia - opposed to the Iranian regime's values and seeking regime change in Iran."

And: " ... the Iran threat should not be underestimated: it is persistent and - crucially - unpredictable. While Iran is fundamentally a rational actor, it does not always appear to act in a coherent way and is prone to misunderstanding actions that others take."

In other words, Iran is a bit of a loose cannon on the world stage, and it needs to be treated accordingly. And not just in the Red Sea or the Middle East. Only recently Britain's security services disrupted and stopped an Iranian terrorist plot on mainland UK "at the last minute".

The question is, then, what should British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his government do about it? Well, sitting on his hands/his government's hands and hoping it all goes away is no longer an option, if indeed it ever was. First of all, and in my considered opinion of course, he needs to rapidly get in cahoots with the USA, Saudi Arabia, and Israel and form a joint effort to retaliate in Yemen and persuade the Houthis that continuing their attacks on shipping is clearly not in their best interests.

Then he needs to deal with Iran directly, and similarly persuade Tehran that threatening British interests at home and abroad will be met with quick retaliatory measures. Initially these should be diplomatic, but patience is now wearing thin. The Israelis and USA have shown that Iran is a paper tiger and the UK needs to be prepared to bare its teeth alongside its allies until the Iranian threat is no more.

But I ask the same question once again; is Starmer the man for the job?

Lt Col Stuart Crawford is a political and defence commentator and former army officer. Sign up for his podcasts and newsletters at www.DefenceReview.uk