Cairo, Mesir (VOA) —
After the latest airstrikes launched by the United States (US) and Britain against Houthi targets in Yemen, a number of experts in Egypt say that more attacks could reduce Suez Canal traffic and damage the Egyptian and world economies.
As is known, the US and UK attacked Houthi targets in response to the militant group’s drone attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea
Egypt’s former deputy foreign minister Hussein Haridi told Arab media that the US and UK strikes would likely damage Egypt’s struggling economy and cut shipping volumes through the Suez Canal even more than the 30 percent drop in shippers seen in December.
He said that if the US-British attacks on the Houthi group continued, this would not solve the problem. However, this actually worsened the problem and caused the conflict to expand to other areas in the region and had an impact on security and the economy in the Middle East and Europe.
Haridi noted that an escalation of conflict could result in attacks on US or British warships, which would force the US or UK to provide a stronger response.
Khattar Abou Diab, a political science lecturer at the University of Paris, told VOA that the US and British attacks on the Houthis came after dozens of Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and were aimed at preventing them from carrying out more attacks.
He said that the US and UK strikes came after 32 Houthi attacks, not only on ships bound for Israel, but also international shipping. The attack was in addition to a major attack on January 9 that used 13 drones and a barrage of missiles. The attack caused more than 2,000 ships to divert their routes from the Red Sea and the Suez Canal (to take the longer route around the Horn of Africa).
British Royal fighter jets, RAF Typhoons, return after striking military targets in Yemen during a US-led military operation in the Red Sea, Cyprus, Friday, January 12, 2024. (Photo: Sgt Lee Goddard/UK MOD via Reuters)
Professor Said Sadek at the Japanese University of Egypt in Alexandria told VOA that he thinks the US would have killed Houthi leaders or commanders if they really wanted to worsen the situation and that Yemeni tribal society would encourage the Houthis to take revenge. Egypt, he said, might also turn a blind eye to the US attack.
“(Egypt) probably turned a blind eye (to the attack) because it is 3,200 kilometers from Cyprus (where there is a British base) to Yemen,” he said.
London-based Iran expert Ali Nourizadeh told VOA that he thinks Iran’s Revolutionary Guard commanders are working with the Houthis to coordinate drone strikes and other attacks on Red Sea shipping.
“Iran, one way or another, insists that they are not involved (in attacks on Red Sea ships),” he said. “Even though they are involved, (Iran) doesn’t want to corner America and force them to attack. So they said they weren’t involved, and they keep saying that.”
Nourizadeh also argued that Israel also does not want to expand the scope of its proxy conflict with Iran.
“One front is enough for (Israel),” according to him. “Israel hasn’t even gone to war with the (Lebanese) Hezbollah militia group like they thought they would.”
However, Israel has struck pro-Iranian militia forces in Syria several times since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, which sparked the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza. (ft)