Houthi leader Abdulmalik Badr al-Din al-Houthi has announced that Houthi forces will expand its operations and begin targeting commercial vessels “across the Indian Ocean and from South Africa towards the Good Hope Road.
In a statement relayed by Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree, al-Houthi stated that “Our operations will continue as long as the aggression and siege on Gaza continues. The American-British aggression will not affect the upward trajectory of operations in terms of range, momentum, accuracy, and strength. What can stop our naval operations is only stopping the aggression and siege on Gaza.”
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“American intransigence and escalation of aggression produces one result, which is the expansion of the conflict, the widening of the circle of war and events, and the tension of the situation at the regional level in general. Our serious approach is to continue and to continue effectively and to expand the scope of our operations to reach areas and locations that the enemy never expected.”
The statement added that “With God’s grace and help, we are moving to prevent the passage of ships associated with the Israeli enemy, even across the Indian Ocean and from South Africa towards the Cape of Good Hope. This is an important, advanced and major step. We have begun to carry out our associated operations across the Indian Ocean and from South Africa towards the Cape of Good Hope.”
Until this point, Houthi forces only targeted vessels in the Red Sea and directly off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden. Increased attacks will likely lead to greater disruptions to international shipping, increased insurance and freight rate prices, and ultimately greater prices on the consumer end. Commercial vessels have already shifted to going around the Cape of Good hope to avoid potential targeting in the Red Sea, which has lengthened shipping times to Europe by about two weeks.
