How the U.K. Is Supporting Saudi Arabia In Its Fight Against the Houthis

Saudi Arabia will have assistance from a key Western ally in its fight against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, as Britain is providing military support to the Kingdom in a bid to help restore stability in the region and ease pressures on the global energy supply.“We’re working with our friends to try and deliver that de-escalation,” British Defense Minister Luke Pollard said in an interview Tuesday. The “purely defensive” deployment of an RAF Voyager to Saudi Arabia is intended to “ensure there’s no further escalation in the Red Sea, which could further risk our fuel prices,” he added.The international assistance comes following weeks of fighting between the Saudi-backed government of Yemen and the Houthis, which shattered a four-year informal cease-fire in the country's civil war. The Houthi rebels have made significant advances along the Red Sea coastline as they seek to tighten their grip on the Bab el-Mandeb, a critical maritime chokepoint that links Asia and Europe via the Red Sea and Suez Canal. With global energy supplies already under strain due to the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz amid the Iran war, the strangling of another trade route could further impact global oil an...