Speaking to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, Dorothy Shea, the interim U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, condemned the recent maritime and missile attacks by Houthi terrorists in Yemen, urging the council to deal with the ongoing threat to international shipping and Israel directly.
“The Houthis continue to be a destabilizing presence in the region,” she said. “In recent days, the Houthis have attacked two commercial vessels in the Red Sea, leading to the loss of life, injury to sailors and sinking of a cargo ship, Magic Seas.”
“The recent Houthi attacks in the Red Sea demonstrate the need for continued vigilance from this council,” she continued.
Shea also condemned the joint efforts of the Houthis and the Iranian regime in firing missiles at Israel, adding that the United States would continue to support the Jewish state.
“Israel has the right to defend itself,” she said. “And we stand with Israel in its right to self-defense against the Houthis.”
The ambassador then called on the council to renew U.N. resolutions regarding the Houthis, including the “immediate” appointment of an arms expert to the Yemen Panel of Experts, “a critical tool in providing this council with information about violations of the arms embargo.”
“Unfortunately, one member of this council continues to impede the appointment of the arms expert to this Panel,” she said, without naming the member directly. “This obstructionism empowers Iran’s defiance of the U.N.’s arms embargo.”
“Iran enables the Houthis to attack Israel, threaten and blackmail our partners in the Gulf, and to play a role in Iran’s terror networks across the wider Middle East region,” Shea stated. “This council must not tolerate Iran’s violations of its resolutions.”
