ABU DHABI: Britain will not send ground troops into combat against Houthi militants in Yemen, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said on Thursday, adding that air strikes had weakened the Iran-backed group.
The United States and Britain have, since January, hit Houthi targets in Yemen with air strikes following months of Houthi attacks on commercial and naval ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis say the attacks, which have disrupted global trade, are a response to Israel’s assault on Gaza.
“Let’s be absolutely clear from the start. We have no plans whatsoever to put boots on the ground,” Dowden said in an interview at the British ambassador’s residence in Abu Dhabi.
He said the air strikes, which have garnered some international support, were aimed at reducing the Houthis’ ability to threaten vessels in the Red Sea and not at ousting the group, which outlasted a years-long Saudi bombing campaign.
The attacks on Red Sea shipping have raised the profile of the Yemeni movement, which took control over large parts of the impoverished country a decade ago. Many citizens in the Middle East see the Houthis as the only Arab force taking on Israel.
Major shipping lines have largely abandoned the major Red Sea trade route for longer routes around Africa. This has increased costs, sparking concerns for global inflation and sapped Egypt of crucial foreign revenue it would normally earn from shippers sailing the Suez Canal to or from the Red Sea.
Dowden said he was confident the military strikes were a step in degrading the Houthis’ capability to threaten the Red Sea, and part of broader measures that include sanctions on Houthi figures.
“We need to tighten the pressure on the Houthis because at the root of this lies a commitment from the United Kingdom to ensure stability and free trade of goods and movement.”
Britain and the US have framed their coordinated effort as having broad international support. Australia, Bahrain, Canada, the Netherlands and others have provided some material support to the campaign but have not taken part in the air strikes.
But few of London and Washington’s closest Arab partners have joined the campaign or provided any public support.
The Houthis have remained defiant. Vessels in the Red Sea continue to come under drone and missile attacks and the Houthis have issued statements goading the British and Americans with threats of targeting their naval vessels.
The British and American air strikes are also taking place amid an unrelated peace process in Yemen. The UN in December said the Houthis and other warring parties had committed to ceasefire measures and political dialogue.
Dowden described the broader regional situation as “fragile and dangerous” and urged all sides to show restraint.
This week, Iranian-backed militants were blamed for a drone attack that killed three US service members in Jordan, the first such deadly strike against US forces since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October.
UK Deputy PM says strikes weakening Houthis, won’t send troops into Yemen
https://arab.news/zrkhw
UK Deputy PM says strikes weakening Houthis, won’t send troops into Yemen
- "We have no plans whatsoever to put boots on the ground,” Dowden said
- He said the air strikes were aimed at reducing the Houthis’ ability to threaten vessels in the Red Sea
US presses missile issue as new Iran talks to open in Geneva
- New round of negotiations in Geneva comes after the US carried out a massive military build-up in the region
- The dispute between the countries mostly revolves around Iran’s nuclear program
GENEVA: The United States and Iran are set to hold indirect talks in Switzerland on Thursday aiming to strike a deal to avert fresh conflict and bring an end to weeks of threats.
The new round of negotiations in Geneva comes after the US carried out a massive military build-up in the region and President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to strike Iran if a deal is not reached.
In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump accused Iran of “pursuing sinister nuclear ambitions.”
He also claimed Tehran had “already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America.”
The Iranian foreign ministry called these claims “big lies.”
The maximum range of Iran’s missiles is 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) according to what Tehran has publicly disclosed. However the US Congressional Research Service estimates they top out at about 3,000 kilometers — less than a third of the distance to the continental United States.
The dispute between the countries mostly revolves around Iran’s nuclear program, which the West believes is aimed at building an atomic bomb but Tehran insists is peaceful.
However the US has also been pushing to discuss Iran’s ballistic missile program, as well as Tehran’s support for armed groups hostile toward Israel.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that Iran must also negotiate on its missile program, calling Tehran’s refusal to discuss ballistic weapons “a big, big problem” on the eve of the talks.
He followed up by saying “the president wants diplomatic solutions.”
Iran has taken anything beyond the nuclear issue off the negotiating table and has demanded that the US sanctions crippling its economy be part of any agreement.
‘Neither war nor peace’
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday he had a “favorable outlook for the negotiations” that could finally “move beyond this ‘neither war nor peace’ situation.”
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is leading the Iranian delegation at the talks, has called them “a historic opportunity,” adding that a deal was “within reach.”
In a foreign ministry statement that followed a meeting with his Oman counterpart, Araghchi said the success of the US negotiations depend “on the seriousness of the other side and its avoidance of contradictory behavior and positions.”
The US will be represented by envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka.
The two countries held talks earlier this month in Oman, which is mediating the negotiations, then gathered for a second round in Geneva last week.
A previous attempt at negotiations collapsed when Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran last June, beginning a 12-day war that Washington briefly joined to bomb Iranian nuclear sites.
In January, fresh tensions between the US and Iran emerged after Tehran engaged in a bloody crackdown on widespread protests that have posed one of the greatest challenges to the Islamic republic since its inception.
Trump has threatened several times to intervene to “help” the Iranian people.
Emile Hokayem, senior fellow for Middle East security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that “the region seems to expect a war at this point.”
In January, there was “a big push by a number of Middle Eastern states to convince the US not to” strike Iran.
“But there’s a lot of apprehension at this point, because the expectation is that this time” a war would be “bigger” than the one in June.
Tehran residents who spoke to AFP were divided as to whether there would be renewed conflict.
Homemaker Tayebeh noted that Trump had “said that war would be very bad for Iran.”
“There would be famine and people would suffer a lot. People are suffering now, but at least with war, our fate might be clear,” the 60-year-old said.
