EU to launch naval mission to protect vessels from Houthis, Borrell says, calling for regional calm

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell calls on all parties to avoid further escalation in the Middle East after US strikes on Iran-linked groups in Syria and Iraq.

“Everybody should try to avoid that the situation becomes explosive,” Borrell says at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

The United States launched airstrikes against Iranian forces and allied militias in Iraq and Syria on Friday, with US President Joe Biden vowing more to come in retaliation for a deadly drone attack on an American base in Jordan.

Borrell said the US response was expected after Biden signaled that Washington would hit back.

“Certainly every attack contributes to the escalation, and the ministers have expressed their serious concern for this process,” he says following the meeting.

“We can only call on everybody to understand that at any moment from this series of attacks and counter-attacks, a spark can produce a greater incident.”

Borrell says that in a bid to calm the spiral of violence, the EU would launch a naval mission in the Red Sea this month to help protect international vessels from attacks by Yemen’s Huthis.

Borrell says the mission would be “defensive” and not conduct any attacks on land against the Yemeni rebels.