The situation in the Red Sea is tense again, with the United States and Britain launching about 70 airstrikes in the early hours of Friday, hitting Houthi targets in Yemen.。The military operation is aimed at stopping continued attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi group on merchant ships in the Red Sea.。

The Houthis have turned a deaf ear to this, insisting that they will continue to target commercial vessels and even more claiming that all U.S. and British interests are legitimate targets.。As soon as this was said, regional tensions rose sharply.。

Rising attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea have pushed up oil prices by more than 4 per cent, with Brent prices breaking the $80 mark for the first time, back to levels seen at the end of December.。

The Houthi attacks, which began in mid-November last year, claimed support for Hamas operations and said they would stop as long as Israel stopped fighting in the Gaza Strip.。The move has raised alarm among the United States and its allies, however, the Houthis have ignored warnings of continued attacks that affect global supply chains and freight costs.。

The airstrike came just hours after Anthony Blinken, a diplomatic official for U.S. President Joe Biden, had concluded a regional visit.。The operation focused on airports, radar facilities, and storage and launch sites for drones and missiles.。Multinational support, but the Netherlands, Australia, Canada and Bahrain did not actually launch the missile。

The airstrikes are aimed at weakening the Houthi's ability to continue attacks on merchant ships, especially over the past two months, when they have hijacked car carriers, attempted to rob other ships, and repeatedly launched missile and drone attacks on merchant ships.。All parties in the region are extremely concerned about the subsequent development of this air strike, which may further affect the stability of the Middle East.。