US Red Sea coalition weak because regional powerhouses abstained-Yemen VP

Yemen's Houthi movement will expand its targets in the Red Sea region to include U.S. ships, an official from the group said on Monday, as it vowed to keep up attacks after U.S. and British strikes on its sites in Yemen. Attacks by the Houthis on ships in the area since November have impacted companies and alarmed major powers in an escalation of Israel's more than three-month war with Hamas militants in Gaza.

The U.S.-led coalition meant to safeguard commercial traffic in the Red Sea against attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis is weak because regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt did not take part, Yemen's vice president said on Tuesday.

The Houthis, who have endured years of war against a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, have been attacking shipping in the Red Sea to protest against Israel's bombardment of Gaza, a war that threatens to spread across the Middle East. "This Bab al-Mandab corridor is of interest to the whole world and to the region, so regional intervention is key," Aidarous al-Zubaidi, Yemen's vice president and head of the Southern Transitional Council, told Reuters in an interview, referring to the narrow strait at the entrance to the Red Sea.

Zubaidi said the turmoil created by the attacks has taken a heavy toll Yemen's economy, which had already taken a beating during the Houthis' war against the Saudi-led coalition. Yemen's Houthi movement will

expand its targets in the Red Sea region to include U.S. ships, an official from the group said on Monday, as it vowed to keep up attacks after U.S. and British strikes on its sites in Yemen.

Attacks by the Houthis on ships in the area since November have impacted companies and alarmed major powers in an escalation of Israel's more than three-month war with Hamas militants in Gaza. The group says it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians.