US, UK Launch New Strikes on Houthi Targets in Yemen

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Facts

• The US Department of Defense has confirmed in a joint statement with the UK, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, and Bahrain that an 'additional round of proportionate and necessary strikes' against Houthi targets took place on Jan. 22.¹
• Strikes by the US and the UK took place 'with support from' the four other countries. The Pentagon's statement accused the Houthis of 'illegal and unjustifiable' attacks on international commercial vessels in the Red Sea since November — including against two US-owned merchant ships.¹
• Within a background (off-the-record) Pentagon briefing, a senior defense official further commented that eight Houthi locations were targeted at approximately 4 p.m. EST with the use of Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles, 'manned aircraft' from the US Dwight D. Eisenhower, as well as 'precision-guided munitions.'²
• The UK's Ministry of Defense (MoD) has further revealed that four Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s, supported by two Voyager tankers, used Paveway IV precision-guided bombs to target two military sites as part of the joint operation.³
• The operation was the second set of coordinated strikes by the US and the UK against the Houthis this month, having previously struck 60 targets in 28 locations, and came following a conversation between US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier on Monday.⁴
• Following the strikes, Hussein al-Ezzi — a Houthi member within the Yemeni Foreign Ministry — has stated that there will be no change in Houthi policy in the Red Sea until the 'brutal aggression against Gaza has stopped.'⁵

Sources: ¹U.S. Department of Defense (a), ²U.S. Department of Defense (b), ³GOV.UK, ⁴Associated Press and ⁵twitter.com.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by The Telegraph. The strikes targeting the Iranian-backed Houthis have come after diplomatic efforts by the US and its allies failed to deter the rebels from further operations against international commercial shipping and US and UK warships. Decisive action against the militants proves that the West stands united in defense of international law and free trade. Since military power seems to be the only language the Houthis and Iran understand, the rules-based international order must not shy away from taking further action if necessary.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by presstv.ir. With the US-British aggression against Yemen, the West's moral bankruptcy in defense of its so-called 'rules-based order' is now on full display. While Washington supports Israel's genocidal Gaza campaign, it's now bombing Yemen for the Houthis daring to stand up for Palestinians by targeting Israeli-linked ships. As so often, the latest US aggression is a recipe for more, not less, violence and instability. The West has deliberately expanded the Israel-Hamas war to distract from Israeli war crimes and will suffer the consequences of its heavy-handed actions.

Predictions