The ‘bloodthirsty’ Houthi rebels in Yemen have been warned that taking control of the Suez Canal could eventually lead to World War 3 as the US and UK launch an air raid campaign against the group.
The Islamist group’s leader, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, warned that the US and UK would “soon realise” their actions were “the greatest folly in their history” after they launched missiles at strategic Houthi sites in Yemen.
The attack was in response to the Yemeni rebel group launching numerous attacks on ships sailing through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal since mid-November, posing a threat to global trade.
Professor Anthony Glees from Buckingham University likened the Iran-backed group’s assault on the region between the Arabian Peninsula and the east African coast to them “putting their nasty hands round the world’s throat.”
Reacting to the news of 72 US and UK strikes across Yemen, Professor Glees said it is necessary “to end their [the Houthis’] nonsense decisively” before another major war begins.
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He told the Daily Star: “We cannot allow the Shia rebels, backed by Iran, to strike against the freedom of the seas and plunge us back into economic recession by forcing international shipping to avoid the Suez Canal.”
He also warned that the skirmish could escalate into something much bigger.
Prof Glees shared his concerns by stating: “My own feeling is that trying to appease Iran or the Houthis by taking it on the chin, forcing the Suez Canal to be closed to international shipping is much more likely to eventually lead to a world war than our hitting very hard indeed the moment they poke us with their sticks.”
He emphasised: “What needs to be understood is that the local war, between Israel and Hamas, has, since 2300 our time January 11, become a regional war, provoked by the Houthis supported by Iran and using weapons it has supplied.”
The Islamic Human Rights Commission voiced that the Houthis are supporting Hamas in the Gaza conflict and said they’re preventing ships “bound for Israel in order to force the apartheid regime in Tel Aviv to halt the military onslaught on Gaza and lift the siege.”
This group’s leader declared after the October 7 Hamas massacre that his troops were “ready to move in the hundreds of thousands to join the Palestinian people and confront the enemy”.
As per Prof Glees, their participation in the struggle between Hamas and Israel adds fuel to the fire of a potential global conflict.
Prof Glees questioned: “The big question is: will Iran respond? We will know by the weekend.
“And if Iran does respond we must expect that this regional war will become a wider war and, given Putin’s ongoing attacks on Ukraine, perhaps even a general or world war.”
