Yemen monitor-Aden
The US and the UK are expected to strike Houthi military positions in Yemen tonight.
No formal announcements or briefings have been made, but the government’s action makes this clear.
Britain is expected to join the US in carrying out air strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen, British media has reported.
Mr Sunak’s Downing Street office did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment, while the US typically does not comment on potential future military operations.
“The Houthis need to stop these attacks … they will bear the consequences for any failure to do so,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Thursday.
It comes as the United Nations Security Council demanded an immediate halt to the disruption in global commerce on Thursday.
Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi has said the group would respond if attacked by the US.
Separately, Downing Street said Mr Sunak had spoken to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi earlier on Thursday and the two leaders had discussed the rise in Houthi attacks and its disruptive impact on shipping.
“The prime minister said the UK would continue to take action to defend freedom of navigation and protect lives at sea,” Downing Street said in a statement.
British media also reported that other political figures, including the leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, as well as the speaker of the House of Commons, had been briefed by the government.
Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi militants have stepped up attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea in protest against Israel’s war in Gaza. Various shipping lines have suspended operations, instead taking the longer journey around Africa.
On Wednesday night the UN security council called for an immediate end to attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea, adopting a resolution that was passed with abstentions from Russia and China.
A key provision of Wednesday’s security council resolution, which was sponsored by the US and Japan, noted the right of UN member states, in accordance with international law, “to defend their vessels from attack, including those that undermine navigational rights and freedoms”.
