State Dept Spox: anti-Yemen naval coalition is open invite

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
19 Dec 2023 22:58

The US State Department spokesperson says that the US would welcome China's involvement in preventing Yemeni operations in the Red Sea.

State Department spokesman Ned Price speaks during a briefing at the State Department in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022 (AP)

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says the US would welcome China's involvement in preventing Yemeni operations against Israeli and "Israel"-bound ships in the Red Sea.

When asked by reporters about China's potential contribution to enhancing security in the Red Sea region, Miller responded, "Yes, we would welcome China playing a constructive role in trying to prevent those attacks from taking place."

Operation Prosperity Guardian

The United States has recently announced the launching of a ten-nation naval coalition under the pretext of securing waterways in the Red Sea. Effectively, the coalition which includes (the USA, Canada, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles, and Bahrain) serves to allow "Israel" to continue its genocidal war against Gaza unbothered by any Yemeni operations.

The United States has also extended an invitation to others to join the naval coalition against Yemen in what has been dubbed "Operation Prosperity Protector", State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller added.

"Of course, we would welcome other countries’ participation, whether it's countries from in the region or countries from outside the region," Miller stated.

Gaza Ceasefire?

Furthermore, Miller expressed the United States' support for a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution that addresses the humanitarian needs of Gazans only if the details of the resolution meet the US' conditions.

"We would welcome a [UNSC] resolution that fully supports addressing the humanitarian needs of the people in Gaza, but as I said … the details of it very much do matter," Miller stated during a press briefing ahead of a scheduled vote later in the day.

Earlier today, Yemeni Ansar Allah senior official Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said that Yemen would be targeting the vessels of countries that joined the US anti-Yemen naval coalition in the Red Sea.

"The vessels of those countries that will actively take part in the actions against us will be attacked by us in the Red Sea," Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, told the Al-Alam broadcaster.

In the same context, in an interview with Al Mayadeen Yemeni Ansar Allah spokesperson Mohammad Abdel Salam said that the criminal onslaught being waged on Palestine forces every free man to take action and underline that they stand against the Zionist arrogance and criminality.

The Yemeni top official underlined that Sanaa cannot directly "support occupied Palestine. We do not share any land borders and we can not engage in land confrontations; we do not have the capabilities but to participate by launching missiles and drones and conducting naval operations."

Abdel Salam also revealed that the Yemeni Armed Forces would not hold back and that the escalations taking place might see an uptick depending on the situation on the ground in light of all the challenges being faced by the Palestinian people.

Also today, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin invited dozens of nations to take steps to address the operation conducted in the Red Sea as he spoke at a defense ministerial to tout a new military operation to secure commerce in the waterway.

"We're all here because many countries can directly contribute to our common efforts to keep strategic waterways safe," Austin said, according to prepared remarks.

Calling Yemen's attacks "reckless", he described it as "a serious international problem" that needs "a firm international response," which, as revealed earlier, will bring "together multiple countries to include the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles, and Spain."