UK committed to ‘protecting innocent lives’, says Shapps after Houthi attack
Grant Shapps said the UK remained “undaunted” after Iran-backed Houthis targeted HMS Diamond in the Red Sea during their latest round of strikes.
The defence secretary’s comments came after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that the Royal Navy warship HMS Diamond “deployed its Sea Viper missile system” to destroy the drone deployed by the Yemen-based Houthi group on Saturday. It said there were no injuries to the crew and no damage to the ship.
In a post on X, Shapps wrote on Sunday: “The UK remains undaunted after yesterday’s illegal attack on HMS Diamond by the Iranian backed Houthis. Our commitment to protect innocent lives and the freedom of navigation is absolutely unwavering.”
The MoD has called the action by the Houthis “intolerable and illegal”, and said Britain and its allies “reserve the right to respond appropriately”.
The British destroyer along with US Navy ships deployed in the area have been targeted by the group in the past. It comes after the Marlin Luanda, a British-linked oil tanker, was sent up in flames in the Gulf of Aden for hours by another rebel strike on Friday.
The fire on the tanker was extinguished with no crew injured after French, Indian and US naval ships provided assistance. The ship sails under the flag of the Marshall Islands but is managed by Oceonix Services, a company registered in the UK.
The Yemeni forces claimed they had targeted a “British oil” vessel following “American-British aggression” against their country. They used “appropriate naval missiles, the strike was direct”, the Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, said in a statement at the time.
The Houthis have repeatedly launched attacks against vessels that go along the Red Sea global trade route, because of Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza. However, they have frequently targeted ships with tenuous or no clear links to Israel.
A second series of UK and US airstrikes, last week, appeared to have done little to thwart their action.
Meanwhile, a British defence source told the Sunday Telegraph that British warships could not attack Houthi targets on land because they lacked the firepower. The source said HMS Diamond lacked “the capability to fire to land targets”.
In response, an MoD spokesperson said: “As with all coalition operations, commanders select the best equipment for the job. HMS Diamond is an air defence destroyer, which has been directly involved in successfully destroying Houthi drones targeting shipping in the Red Sea.
“Equally, the Royal Air Force has the capability to strike land targets with high precision, which is why Typhoon aircraft strikes have reduced the Houthis’ ability to conduct these attacks.”
Alongside numerous airstrikes on Houthi targets, the UK and US are also targeting leading figures in the Iranbacked militant group with sanctions.
Last week David Cameron, the foreign secretary, embarked on a trip to the Middle East to try to reduce tensions amid fears the war in Gaza could spiral into a wider regional conflict.
On his return, Lord Cameron argued that a new international group comprising the US, UK, key EU states, Gulf and Arab countries, and Turkey, should be established to broker an end to the fighting. In a newspaper article he wrote: “Let’s use a pause in the fighting to build unstoppable momentum towards a lasting solution.”