Red Sea, Crosetto: ‘Italia is not at war’. Tajani: the Aspides mission must be strengthened

‘No, we are not at war. Indeed, the European Aspides mission was established as, and remains, a defensive mission, aimed solely at ensuring the safe passage of merchant ships travelling through the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait by protecting them from any attacks by the Houthis. We will continue to do so in the face of the worsening situation in the strait, urging the European Union to renew the mission, because we have a strong strategic interest.” This was stated by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, Antonio Tajani, in an interview with the *Corriere della Sera*, in response to a question raised in the context of the clashes between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, following an air raid that struck an Italian fighter jet at a Saudi airbase. “40 per cent of Italia’s total commercial maritime traffic and 60 per cent of the goods we export to Asia pass through the Red Sea. We have been calling for months for Aspides to be strengthened, asking other states to stand alongside us. I will do so again next week in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly,” added Tajani.

Meanwhile, Crosetto’s comments have made an impression on the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, who replied to a letter from the Defence Minister, agreeing on ‘the need’ to strengthen the mission. Kallas will now send a letter to the Member States to engage them on the matter.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Mansur, an official at the Houthi government’s Ministry of Information in Sana’a, when asked about the attack on the Taif airbase, in Saudi Arabia, in which an Italian military aircraft was hit yesterday, explained to the Ansa news agency that ‘ours is a legitimate armed resistance in the face of prolonged Saudi aggression. We are not at war with Italia and we do not intend to involve your country. But we do wonder what Italian aircraft are doing in Saudi Arabia in support of Riyadh’s war against us”.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthis have claimed responsibility for ballistic missile and drone attacks on what they described as ‘sensitive sites’ in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and on a facility belonging to the oil giant Aramco in Yanbu, on the Red Sea coast. The Houthi forces announced the operation through their spokesperson, Ameen Hayyan, without providing further details on the targets struck in the Saudi capital. Saudi Arabia has not yet confirmed the information contained in the claim.

The attack, for which the Houthis have claimed responsibility, forms part of the sharp escalation in recent days between the Yemeni movement and Saudi Arabia. The Houthis had already announced that they would respond to the Saudi air strikes in Yemen by striking deep into the kingdom’s territory, and had indicated that oil infrastructure far from holy sites was also among their potential targets.

Iran wants an end to the war between Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement. This was stated by Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, in an interview with Al Jazeera. ‘We want the war between Saudi Arabia and Yemen to end. I believe the Yemenis are also seeking a solution with Saudi Arabia.’