TRANSCRIPT
With diplomats crisscrossing the Middle East in attempts to find ways to avert a region-wide war, some analysts say the Gaza war has already spread in the region.
The flashpoint has been the Red Sea, where the Houthis have launched at least 27 attacks on ships since November 19.
The shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia, the Red Sea accounts for almost 15 per cent of global seaborne trade, carrying US$1 trillion of goods.
According to UK defence secretary Grant Shapps, the Houthi attacks have increased 500 per cent from November to December, resulting in increasing insurance costs and major shipping companies having to find alternative shipping routes.
Last week the US and UK decided to respond to the ongoing Houthi attacks in the Red Sea by taking military action.
With the support of Western allies, including Australia and Canada - the US and UK launched air strikes targeting 28 Houthi sites in Yemen.
UK PM Rishi Sunak defended the action, saying there was no evidence of civilian casualties so far.
"Well, our aim is to de-escalate tensions in the region, and actually restore stability back to the area. We faced an escalating series of attacks from the Houthis on commercial shipping, including an attack on a Royal Navy warship. That's unacceptable. But it's right that we took proportionate, targeted action against military targets to send a strong message that that behaviour is unacceptable. It was a last resort."
Delivering on their promise to retaliate, the Houthis say they targeted a US ship in the Gulf of Aden with missiles, resulting in a "direct hit".
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea says the group plans to continue attacking ships in the Red Sea to support Palestinians in the Gaza conflict.
"The Houthi armed forces consider all American and British warships and vessels participating in the aggression against our country as hostile targets. The Houthi armed forces affirm that the response to the American and British attacks is inevitable - and that any new aggression will not remain unpunished."
The US military said there were no injuries or damages on the Marshall Islands-flagged, US-owned and operated container ship.
But just who are the Houthis and why have they sided with the Palestinians in the war in Gaza?
Yemen has been in a decade-long civil war as the Houthis maintain control of parts of the country.
The armed political and religious group controls the north of Yemen and the capital Sanaa and it also has access to the strategically valuable Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which leads into the Red Sea.
The group emerged in the 1980s to reflect the experience of Yemen's Shia Muslim minority, the Zaidis.
The Houthis declare themselves to be part of the Iranian-led so called axis of resistance"against Israel, the US and the wider West - along with armed groups such as Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah movement.
Aidarous al-Zubaidi is head of Yemen's Southern Transitional Council, which is backed by the United Arab Emirates - and represents heavily armed and well-financed militias active in south Yemen.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he says the actions of the Houthis have been destabilising for the region - and he's urging the US and its allies to assist in forming an anti-Houthi coalition; as well as take tougher action against Iran.
"The main reason behind the halt of the political process in the past was the actions of the Houthis – and their actions could now lead to the collapse of the process. They've escalated the situation in the Red Sea. The United States and Britain did an international and humanitarian duty by protecting the vital corridor."
The United States has accused Iran of being deeply involved in the Houthi attacks, a claim Iran has denied.
Iran's President, Ebrahim Raisi, has said Iran sees it as its duty to support the resistance groups, but insists that the groups act independently.
Iran's foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, says the US and UK declared war against Yemen with their military action against Houthi targets in Yemen.
He added that the Houthis will maintain its block on ships in the Red Sea that it determines are bound for Israeli ports as long as the Gaza war continues.
He had a message in particular for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
"I'm telling Mr Blinken loudly: Mr. Blinken! We've told you many times, war is not the solution. The White House can't speak of its unwillingness for the expansion of war in the region and send us and others messages, but at the same time expand the war to the Red Sea against Yemen."
