ABC / Reuters/ AFP | 15.1.24

The Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah says US actions in the Red Sea will harm the security of all shipping because the area has now become a conflict zone.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah made the comments after US and British forces launched dozens of air strikes against Houthi forces in Yemen last week.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said US “enemy” aircraft were still seen flying close to Yemeni airspace and coastal areas on Sunday local time.

US Central Command said a fighter aircraft shot down an anti-ship cruise missile on Sunday, which was fired from Yemen toward the USS Laboon in the Red Sea.

The joint US/UK attacks were in retaliation for months of Houthi attacks on cargo ships, causing companies to divert vessels from the Red Sea route.

The Houthis, also backed by Iran, say they are targeting Israeli-linked vessels in response to the Israel-Gaza war.

Mr Nasrallah said the US had disrupted security in the Red Sea, which he described as having become a “a theatre of fighting”.

“The more dangerous thing is what the Americans did in the Red Sea [which] will harm the security of all maritime navigation, even the ships that are not going to Palestine, even the ships which are not Israeli, even the ships that have nothing to do with the matter, because the sea has become a theatre of fighting, missiles, drones and warships,” he said.

On a separate front, Hezbollah has been fighting against Israeli forces at the Lebanon border since the Israel-Gaza war began.

Mr Nasrallah said Hezbollah’s aim was to “stop the aggression against Gaza”.

He said the United States should understand “the security of the Red Sea and calm on Lebanon’s front, the situation in Iraq, and all developments in the region is tied to one thing: to stop the aggression against Gaza”.

“You are trying to deal with the consequences and the results. Go fix the reason.”

Iran has also condemned the strikes on Yemen, with Iran’s president adding such actions “are rejected and condemned by the freedom-seeking nations of the world”.

‘We have to act’, British foreign minister says

Britain remains ready to act to “defend freedom of navigation”,  UK Foreign Minister David Cameron said on Sunday local time.

“We’ve demonstrated that we’re prepared to follow words and warnings with action and that is incredibly important,” Mr Cameron told broadcaster Sky News.

There has been a proxy war playing out, but now the UK and US have jets in the sky

As the United Kingdom and the United States strike Houthi targets, they’re realising fears of a broader conflict, writes Global Affairs Correspondent John Lyons.

He suggested further strikes could occur if Houthi rebels continued to target ships in the Red Sea.

“We have to act,” he said.

“Not acting is also a policy and it was a policy that wasn’t working.

“It’s not just the goods that are coming to this country … it is also grain ships on their way to Ethiopia and Sudan to feed some of the poorest and hungriest people in the world.”

Fierce opposition has followed the strikes, with pro-Palestinian activists protesting at the gates of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.

They were angry the British base was used as a launch pad for strikes against the Houthis.