Houthis agree to ensure safe passage for Chinese, Russian ships in Red Sea — report

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have reached an agreement with China and Russia to ensure safe passage for their ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in exchange for increased political support on the global stage, according to a new report Thursday.

The agreement was reached during diplomatic talks in Oman with senior Houthi political figure Mohammed Abdel Salam, Bloomberg News reported, and formalizes a commitment made by the Houthis in January when the Iran-backed group first told Beijing and Moscow that their vessels would not be harmed.

In exchange for allowing vessels to pass unharmed through the Red Sea shipping route that has become the target of frequent Houthi missile strikes in recent months, China and Russia will provide political support for the Houthis in various spaces, including at the United Nations Security Council, sources familiar with the contents of the talks told Bloomberg.

The exact way in which the support at the UN will manifest is unknown, the report added, but it could lead to blockage of resolutions condemning the Yemen-based group.

The Houthis have repeatedly attacked vessels transiting through the Red Sea and surrounding waters since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, claiming that they are doing so in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

The Shia Islamist group claimed at first that it was only targeting ships with ties to Israel, though ships without any apparent ties were attacked as well. It later expanded its criteria to include ships with connections to the US and UK, as the two countries have carried out a series of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen in a largely unsuccessful attempt to deter the group.

The group’s attacks have imperiled shipping in a key route for trade among Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Vessels attacked have included at least one with cargo for Iran, the Houthis’ main benefactor.

There have been three fatalities as a result of the Red Sea attacks — two Filipino sailors and one Vietnamese, all three of whom were killed in a strike on the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned True Confidence bulk carrier this month.

While no vessel appears to be fully protected from Houthi missiles, as seen in the case of the Iran-bound ship, the rebel group first offered assurances to Russia and China back in January.

At the time, senior Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti insisted that the Iran-backed group was “ready to ensure the safe passage of their ships in the Red Sea, because free navigation plays a significant role for our country.”