Front Burner - High tension on the Red Sea

Episode Date: January 8, 2024

Yemen’s Houthi militias are attacking commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea, and say the attacks will continue until Israel ends its “crimes in Gaza.” Who’s backing the Houthi rebels? Why is the U.S. sinking Houthi ships and sailing naval destroyers in the region? What could the attacks mean for fears of a broader regional conflict? Iona Craig is an investigative journalist who’s been covering Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula for over a decade.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Damon Fearless. That's the helicopter you're hearing. It's a video taken from a camera mounted on a military chopper. And that chopper's flying over the Red Sea, about to land on the deck of this massive

cargo ship called the Galaxy Leader. And on the belly of the chopper, there's a large Palestinian flag. The chopper touches down, and about a half dozen armed men, Houthi fighters, spread out across the deck of the ship. The helicopter then peels away and the fighters work their way towards the ship's bridge. They open the door. There's a bit of shouting. And by the time it's all over, the crew are taken hostage and the ship is under Houthi control. The video is like an action film come to life. And it wouldn't be the last time that the Houthis, an Islamist rebel group from Yemen, would turn their sights on ships sailing through the Red Sea or the Indian Ocean. So how did they pull this off? And why? What does it have to do with Israel,

the Palestinians? And why is the U.S. now sinking Houthi ships and keeping naval destroyers in the region? We're going to sort that out today with Iona Craig. She's an investigative journalist, and she's been covering Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula for over a decade. Hey, Iona, thanks so much for coming on. I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Okay, so the video that I described in the introduction, it's been circulating really popularly on the web since mid-November.

I'm curious what you thought of it when it first popped up. I think the first thing that really struck me was the helicopter landing on the deck of this vessel. Yeah, this the first time that I'd ever seen the Houthis deploying a helicopter at all ever in their entire 20 year old history, never mind on the deck of a vehicle carrier in the Red Sea. So yeah, that was pretty astonishing. Obviously, all the kind of flashy camera angles and all the rest of it that they were doing very much for a pretty extensive PR exercise as well. But it wasn't the first attacks that the Houthis had been making, I guess, before the boarding the ship like that. They had been kind of sending little salvos towards Israel, right?

Yes, they'd been carrying out ballistic missile strikes towards Israel. None of them seemingly landed. Some landed reportedly in Egypt, but none of them hit targets in Israel and were taken out sort of mid-flight, if you like, and drones as well. They'd also been carrying attacks already out against vessels in the Red Sea. But yes, this was something different entirely to actually hijack a ship. This was not something the Houthis had done before. And so the ship in that video, the Galaxy Leaders, this enormous vessel that's meant to carry cars,

it was empty at the time when the Houthis took it. What happened to the ship and to its crew? So the Houthis took that vessel to the port of Hodeidah, which is the main port of Yemen on the western Red Sea coast. Those crew still remain hostages. But then the Houthis kind of got every Yemeni sort of social media influencer on board the vessel, got them to do sort of videos, TikTok videos, Instagram videos. Now it's pulling in the crowds and is increasingly a place of fun and recreation. The visitors arrive on boats and are given a full tour. They see it as an act of solidarity. There's been scenes of the Houthis dancing on the ship.

I mean, I was joking with Yemeni friends that the next thing we'd be seeing was like weddings, parties on the ship because it had kind of got that ridiculous. So, yeah, there's a real sort of PR campaign on it. You know, the Houthis were saying that the hostages were guests of the Houthis and not hostages. And every social media influencer from Houthi territory was pretty much forced to go on board and publicize what they'd done. So, you know, as you mentioned, we had these attacks towards Israel before the seizure of the Galaxy Leader. But then after that, and that's kind of towards the end of

November, the attacks by the Houthis on vessels in the Red Sea have been picking up. Can you tell me a little bit more about those attacks? Yes, I think we're at about 25, so more than two dozen attacks that have been carried out. But in a single attack, that can include multiple drones being deployed, anti-ship ballistic missiles. Yeah, the Houthis claim that they are targeting vessels that are either owned by Israel or are bound for, are due to dock in Israel. The US Navy has become heavily involved in defending the shipping. The French have also engaged, the British too. And so yeah, it's escalated. And most recently, we've seen further what appear to be attempted hijackings where not involving helicopters this time but other small boats with Houthis on board have attempted to board ships and got very close to doing so

which the Americans have had to defend from and then even in in the last week or so we've seen the first time the use by the Houthis of waterborne IEDs i. drone boats, so unmanned boats that have been sent into the sea laden with explosives and have been detonated. So yeah, it's been escalating pretty much week on week since the Galaxy Leader was taken. And now, you know, obviously, it's had this huge impact on international shipping as a result. Can you give me a sense of like, are the Houthis solely responsible for these attacks that you mentioned? Have they had help? Well, the Houthis have had a lot of help over the last more than a decade now from Iran. When the Houthis first sort of formed in the early 2000s, as this sort of Zaydi Shia, which is a branch of Shia Islam

that's pretty much unique to Yemen, Zaydiism. The Zaydis ruled North Yemen for more than a thousand years and make up roughly a quarter of Yemen's population. Following the attacks on the Twin Towers in September 2001 and the invasion of Iraq, Hussein al-Houthi developed a radical theory that combined Zaydi revivalism with an anti-imperialist agenda. They initially in the first few years had some connections to Iran politically, but that's really expanded since the civil war in Yemen in 2014, when the Houthis took the capital, Sana'a. The peace deal they signed with the government will likely allow the Shia minority militia to dominate Yemen's politics for the time to come. They are now in

control of every major government building, as well as the military's general command. And the military support from Iran has since then been extensive. And that comes in military training, strategizing, but most importantly, in weapons. You know, they would have never been able to carry out that attack on the Galaxy Leader, that sophisticated attack 10 years ago, it just wouldn't have been possible. So yeah, these ballistic missiles and these drones very much come from Iran. And that said, the Houthis have their own agency. So I would call them allies and partners, certainly of Iran, but they're not proxies. So yes, they kind of still do what they want when they want, but very much able to do that because of the support from Iran.

So, I mean, there's this years of experience. You were talking about the fighting over the last 10 years. Can you give me a sense of their role in the fighting in Yemen for the last decade or so? Yeah, I mean, the Houthis have gone from the cliche ragtag militia that they were in the early 2000s to a sophisticated non-state actor. And actually, when I saw that video, I was really reminded of a moment back in 2014, after they seized the capital, Sana'a, and their next move was to move further south into another governorate in Yemen. And I went with them. And one of the fighters I met there couldn't have been more of a contrast to what happened on the Galaxy Leader in November. He was a guy who probably, he didn't know how old he was, but I guess he was probably in his mid

60s. And he was wearing a grey long sleeve t-shirt with matching grey long johns, sandals, and had his AK-47 slung over his shoulder with sort of grey stubble. And I sort of said to him, you know, what are your aims? And he said, we will go all the way to Jerusalem, at which point I was slightly surprised because he was heading south and Jerusalem is very much north by some thousand miles. But yeah, I remembered that moment because, you know, he was the classic ragtag militia sort of a guy. Prior to that, they had fought six wars against the Yemeni government on and off. But in 2014, this was a much more significant move. And they were able to do it because an alliance they formed with their old enemy. So the former president of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who'd been pushed out of power after 33 years in the Arab Spring uprising in 2011. Saleh's troops opened fire on protesters, but that only triggered mass defections. A deal brokered by Saudi Arabia and other powers in the region forced him from office, but not from the country. He was looking to try to claw back power.

He did a deal with the Houthis in 2014, and all of his loyalists in the army helped them as well. And with that, they were able to start to take territory until they literally marched into the capital in September 2014, when I was living there. And it was then in the spring of 2015, in March 2015, when they forced the new president of Yemen out into exile into Saudi Arabia, that Saudi Arabia got involved and formed a coalition and started carrying out

initially an air campaign, but a military campaign along with the United Arab Emirates and other regional members to fight the Houthis, but with very limited success. The latest UN estimates suggest 227,000 people have died in this war. Most of those deaths are from the indirect consequences of the war, widespread famine, diseases like cholera and a lack of health infrastructure. So the Saudis at the moment are very keen to extract themselves from the conflict in Yemen. And really what's happening now in the rest of the region, what's happened in Gaza and then these Red Sea attacks by the Houthis as a result,

is really upsetting that process that was very close to being, at least a deal being signed anyway between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis to end Saudi Arabia's involvement in the civil war in Yemen since 2015. Several rounds of peace talks deadlocked until the UN-led negotiations led to a temporary ceasefire last year. It's hoped that current discussions, which come after Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to normalise diplomatic relations, will finally bring an end to this long-running conflict.

And that is now all in jeopardy because of what we're seeing happening with the Houthis at the moment in the Red Sea. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization. Empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. You may have seen my money show on Netflix.

I've been talking about money for 20 years. I've talked to millions of people and I have some startling numbers to share with you. Did you know that of the people I speak to, 50% of them do not know their own household income? That's not a typo. 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples. They've been accused, you know, of essentially war crimes, too, in terms of, you know, employing child soldiers and targeting children, too, right? Yes, they're notorious for recruiting child soldiers.

targeting children too, right? Yeah, so notorious for recruiting child soldiers. They have made life incredibly difficult for civilians and as a result of what they've done have caused the displacement of many millions of Yemenis, not just once, not just twice, but up to four or five times some people have found themselves displaced because the conflict has shifted over time. And at the beginning of the conflict, they had this tactic of any sheikhs or tribal leaders that wouldn't fall in line with them, that wouldn't take their side. They just went in and blew up their houses. So yeah, I think, you know, this is part of the problem at the moment where the Houthis are being held up as these great heroes of the hour, standing up to the West, standing up to Israel over what

they're doing in Gaza. Yet, if you're looking for a hero in all of this, it's not going to be the Houthis for what they've done in Yemen, and to such a large amount of the Yemeni population who would definitely not see them as heroes. Having said that, I have spoken to many Yemenis who have been against the Houthis, who have been very much on the anti-Houthi side of the civil war in Yemen, who are now very proud of what the Houthis are doing because of the absence in the region of any actor taking any other stance against Israel, taking a stance against what's happening in Gaza or standing up for the Palestinian cause.

And the Houthis are filling that vacuum and becoming incredibly popular as a result, which is, it's kind of extraordinary to watch it happen. Yemen's Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for two attacks. They say they will keep up the attacks as long as Israel continues its war with Hamas. The armed forces will not hesitate to target any Israeli ship in the Red Sea or any location that falls within our reach starting immediately. The military operations of the Yemeni armed forces against the Israeli enemy will not cease until the Israeli aggression against our brave brothers in Gaza stops.

On shore, these Yemenis gather every day to express their support for Gaza and their rejection of the war. Actually, as a result, they have also domestically been able to recruit tens of thousands of fighters on the back of all of this, on the back of their kind of PR win, if you like, and what they're doing in the Red Sea and putting this forward as being the leaders in the Palestinian cause. Yeah, they've gained a lot by all of this and I think they'll continue to do so. Let's talk about that because I think one of the really striking things about that hijack video is the first thing you see is a shot of the Palestinian flag strapped to the belly of the

chopper that's coming in towards the vessel it's landing on. You're mentioning the popularity that they're gaining for taking that stance, but how much of it is motivated genuinely by support for Gaza and how much of it is, you know, an attempt to increase power? Yeah, I think their critics would definitely say that the kind of Palestinian cause is really a fig leaf for everything else for consolidating their power. And again, you know, critics of the Houthis would also say that they would have done this anyway at some point. If there hadn't been a Palestinian cause, they would have found another reason to do it. And I think if you go back through the history of the Houthis, they have for more than a decade been wanting and planning to get access to the Red Sea

and have now effectively got control of the Red Sea. and have now effectively got control of the Red Sea. I mean, it's kind of where the geography and the politics meet to create geopolitics really in the Red Sea because not too many people knew who the Houthis were probably three months ago and not too many people cared. And now this is really causing major disruption to international trade, international shipping, and it will likely do to the economies, certainly of Europe, and to a lesser extent, America as well. And the Houthis

are really the ones left with the last laugh on all of this. So let's talk about how the international community has responded. We've got the U.S. military is now involved. Last week it sank three Houthi ships. And before that, the U.S. announced part of this, I can't keep track of it, 10, 12. Sometimes, you know, people are saying bigger than that, this coalition defending the Red Sea sea what do we know about that coalition who's in it what's its mandate and and what's been done so far operation prosperity guardian yes i think i think there's supposed to be 20 members of that naval coalition i think the issue is many of them don't want to be named because they would be arab

countries that wouldn't want to be seen as taking a line that might be favorable to Israel, i.e. against the Houthis and their stance for the Palestinian cause. I think a central command, US central command have certainly said that this is a defensive naval coalition. So it's not in the business of carrying out offensive attacks against the Houthis, but their aim is to protect shipping. The United States does not seek conflict with any nation or actor in the Middle East, nor do we want to see the war between Israel and Hamas widen in the region. But neither will we shrink from the task of defending ourselves, our interests, our partners, or the free flow of international commerce.

I think the issue is with a lot of the nations involved is they don't have vessels to contribute, they just have personnel and kind of administrative roles they might be able to play. But I think also the big problem is even for those that do have warships in the Red Sea, in and around the Red Sea now,, it's just not enough of them. I think it's incredibly challenging. We saw with that attack you mentioned on the 31st of December that that started when there were actually private military contractors on the commercial vessel that were able to defend against the first attack. So yes, that's been the other thing that's going on is that there have been private security firms that had obviously previously been used against Somali pirates sort of back in the day before 2017

who are now being used on commercial vessels. But the real impact of this has now been, you know, 70% of cargo traffic that would normally go through the Red Sea and up through the Suez Canal is now diverting around the Cape of Good Hope and going around the Horn of Africa. Container shipping giant Maersk announced on Friday that it is diverting all vessels from Red Sea routes around Africa's Cape of Good Hope. Redirecting ships around Africa can add about 10 days to journey times and up to $1 million extra in fuel for every round trip. In addition to this coalition, the Operation Prosperity Guardian, which you mentioned too,

last week the U.S. kind of sounded a warning beyond that to the Houthis to stop the attacks or that they'd face military action. It seemed like a fairly definitive, like, last chance kind of warning. It wasn't the United States who decided to attack commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The Houthis did that. And who are the Houthis backed by? Iran. As I've said before, Iran provided the missiles that the Houthis are using.

We are simply in a defensive posture to try to protect that commercial shipping. And in the meantime, Iran has sent in a warship into the Red Sea. So how worrying a move is this kind of escalation? I actually, that's, I don't see the Iranian ship moving in as an escalation because they always have a vessel or two in the area. And actually they, what they do is they have them on rotation. So I think actually that vessel that was reported as going in was just one that was on rotation anyway.

One was coming out, another one was going in. So separate, but still part of all of this attacks on shipping and still supposedly in the cause of Palestine, drone attacks on vessels towards the Indian coast. And I think, you know, again, this is linked to major attempts to disrupt shipping. We've also seen Somali, and I will call them privateers and not pirates because they are not the pirates of 2017 and backwards. They are something entirely different, who have attempted to, or have in the case of one, captured vessels. And the Indian Navy's had to get involved in that.

You know, the biggest thing right now, obviously, what's happening in the Red Sea is tied to the conflict with Hamas and Israel. And the big fears are that wider war could break out in the region. We've got, you know, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel. Israel struck Lebanon's capital last week. There's constant, you know, barrages of missiles over the border there. I guess what I'm curious about is how these attacks by the Houthis might feed into the prospects of a bigger regional war. Yeah, you know, I've had this discussion with kind of colleagues and Yemen watches a lot over the last few days. Nobody is very optimistic about this. And I think if you look at what's been happening in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and as far away as kind of off the coast of India, you have already had

seven countries who've engaged militarily against either Houthis, the Somali privateers or Iran in the last two months. So I think you could almost argue that there already is an extension of the conflict, that it has already gone beyond the point of just simply being Israel, Hamas, or even Israel and Hezbollah. But I mean, obviously, everybody is much more concerned probably with the escalation over the Lebanesellah. But I mean, obviously, everybody is much more concerned probably with the escalation over the Lebanese border. But I think we really need to consider and watch closely what's going on at sea, because I think that's probably an area that Western navies are least prepared to be able to protect against, particularly when it comes to international shipping. And I think the Houthis, as part of the so-called Axis of Resistance, which is this Iranian-led group of non-state actors, which the Houthis are the nearest recruits of, but includes Hezbollah, Hamas, and the militias,

the Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, they have proved now that they have the most leverage over both Israel and the West because they can, you know, disrupt international shipping so easily. And the long term impacts of that could be huge in years when there's elections in Europe, there's, you know, elections in America, when this can change the economies of Europe and the US because of interest rates, that would be the knock on effect from disrupting shipping. So in that respect, I think, yes, obviously, there are, there is real nervousness that something will spark in Lebanon. But I think what we're seeing at sea isn't really being thought about enough. And the longer term impacts on that could be far more devastating for Europe and America than the fallout over the Lebanese

border. Iona, thanks so much for taking time to talk about this with us. Brilliant. Thank you. All right, that's it for today. I'm Damon Fairless. Thanks for listening to FrontBurner. And I'll talk to you tomorrow. For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.