Middle East: UN warns against wider escalation after Houthi attacks in the Red Sea

As fighting intensifies in the Middle East, the United Nations on Friday warned against further escalation in the US-Iran war and the risks to global shipping amid the fight over control of the Strait of Hormuz. UN Secretary-General António Guterres is deeply alarmed about the resumption of Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea this week and the renewed threats to maritime navigation, his Spokesperson said in a statement. The Yemeni armed movement formally known as Ansar Allah, backed by Iran, recently entered the conflict and have threatened to blockade the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a key shipping route to the Red Sea. The Houthis have been battling Yemeni Government forces, who are backed by a Saudi Arabia-led coalition, for more than a decade. On Thursday, they claimed to have struck two Saudi oil tankers, according to media reports. Risk of wider regional conflict“The attack on commercial vessels, claimed by the Houthis, risks further heightening regional tensions and widening the current cycle of escalation with the potential to draw Yemen deeper into regional conflict,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement. He warned that “further hostilities in Yem...