UN council authorizes continuing vigilance of attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Red Sea shipping

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday authorized continued reporting on attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have defied its previous demands to immediately halt all such attacks.

The vote in the 15-member council was 12-0 with Russia, China and Algeria abstaining because of attacks against Yemen in violation of its sovereignty, a clear reference to U.S. airstrikes against the Houthis who control most of northern Yemen. The Trump administration has carried out the strikes because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on close ally Israel.

The resolution, cosponsored by the United States and Greece, extends the requirement that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres provide monthly reports to the Security Council about Houthi attacks in the Red Sea until Jan. 15, 2026.

Acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea said the resolution recognizes the need for continued vigilance “against the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist threat.”

She cited the two latest attacks by Houthis against civilian cargo vessels, the MV Magic Seas and the MV Eternity C, which caused both vessels to sink and led to the loss of innocent seafarers and saw crew members taken hostage.

“The United States strongly condemns these unprovoked terrorist attacks, which demonstrate the threat that the Houthis pose to freedom of navigation and to regional economic and maritime security,” Shea said, reiterating the council’s demand for an immediate halt to Houthi attacks and the release of all crew members kidnapped from the Eternity C.

The assaults represent the latest chapter of the rebels’ campaign against shipping over the war in Gaza that began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 surprise attack in southern Israel. They also come as Yemen’s nearly decadelong war drags on in the Arab world’s poorest country, without any sign of stopping.

Greece’s U.N. Ambassador Evangelos Sekeris said the Houthi attacks have continued to fuel mistrust in the international maritime community, stressing that security and freedom of navigation are essential for the stability of global supply chains and economic development.

“If the Red Sea region — a critical international maritime route — becomes even more degraded, it will expose the international community to more acute security risks and economic uncertainty,” he warned.

Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said Moscow abstained because language in the previous resolution demanding a halt to Houthi attacks was arbitrarily interpreted to justify “the use of force affecting the territory of the sovereign state of Yemen.”

“We stand convinced that any steps aimed at stabilizing the situation in Yemen and around Yemen should be taken in political and diplomatic ways,” he said.

China’s deputy U.N. ambassador Geng Shuang said his country abstained because “certain countries took military action against Yemen, which seriously impacted the Yemeni peace process and exacerbated tensions in the Red Sea.”

The Houthis have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group’s leadership has described as an effort to end Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza.

Shuang called tensions in the Red Sea “a major manifestation of the spillover from the Gaza conflict.” Russia’s Polyansky also stressed the link between normalizing the situation in the Red Sea and the need for a ceasefire in Gaza and release of all hostages.

Algeria’s deputy U.N. ambassador Toufik Koudri, whose country is the Arab representative on the Security Council, expressed regret the Yemen resolution demanding an immediate halt to Houthi attacks made no mention of the Gaza war, which he called “one of the catalytic factors.”

“The Security Council cannot disregard the clear nexus between the attacks in the Red Sea and the aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the deep feelings that resulted from the brutal massacres committed against innocent civilians,” he said.