Houthi response to Yemen airstrikes may be ‘limited,’ ex-U.S. envoy says
globalnews.caYemen in response to the Iran-backed rebel group’s attacks on ships in the Red Sea may be limited, a former U.S. diplomat says.Frank Lowenstein, who served as the U.S.
special envoy for Middle East peace during the second Obama administration, says Washington is likely more focused on addressing the potential threat of Hezbollah to Israel and growing violence in the West Bank rather than on how the Houthis may respond to Thursday’s strikes.That’s because the strikes were targeted toward crippling the Houthis’ ability to launch such attacks in the future.“I think the risk of escalation in Yemen is relatively limited — there’s only so much more that the Houthis can really do beyond what they’ve been doing right now,” he told Eric Sorensen in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block.“We tried as hard as we could to avoid (an offensive military response), and now I think the process is just one of containing it as much as we can.”Thursday’s strikes came days after the U.S., U.K. and other countries — including Canada — issued a stern warning to the Houthis to stop launching ballistic missiles and combat drones at vessels operating in the Red Sea, which is a key global trade route, or face “consequences.”The Houthis had only escalated their attacks since then, culminating in a massive barrage of projectiles on Tuesday that were shot down by the British and American militaries.
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