Gaza: Houthi rebels threaten German shipping lines, Baerbock warns China

Admin I Monday, 18 November 2024

 

 BERLIN – Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebel movement has over recent months issued threats by email to German shipping companies, the German shipping association (VDR) said on Monday just as Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned China against supplying drones to Russia.

The threats have been directed at companies whose ships use Israeli ports and pass through waters close to Yemen, the Hamburg-based VDR said.

“The Houthi rebels evidently have closely researched email addresses, as the threats are sent to individual contacts as well,” VDR manager Irina Haesler said.

She described the emails as targeted attempts at intimidation and said the VDR was in contact with the security authorities. How many threatening emails have been received was not revealed.

Since the start of the Gaza war, the Houthis have been attacking ships they link in any way to Israel as they pass close to Yemen on their way to and from the Suez Canal. The attacks are aimed at supporting Hamas in the Gaza Strip and forcing Israel to withdraw its forces.

Many shipping companies have responded by taking the longer route via the Cape of Good Hope. Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned China against supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with military equipment at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday.

Baerbock said supporters of Russia must understand that the Ukraine war concerns Europe’s “core security interests” and for this reason backing Russia “must and will have consequences” for China.

The German foreign minister did not give further details however she did say that the European Union will impose more sanctions on Iran for supplying Russia with ballistic missiles. Baerbock is in Brussels to meet with her EU counterparts to discuss the Ukraine war and the support Russia is receiving from North Korea, China, and Iran.

Like Iran, the EU has also been warning China throughout the Ukraine war against directly supplying military equipment to Russia. Ahead of the foreign ministers gathering, an EU official said the bloc had reports from intelligence sources that a factory inside China is producing drones that are shipped to Russia and are used against Ukraine.

The EU official said that China has provided Russia with dual-use goods and technologies that can be repurposed for military use in Ukraine.

While this practice is “extremely worrying,” the EU official said the bloc did not have direct evidence of material transfer of military equipment from China and Russia. Investigations on the issue are continuing, the EU official said and the Chinese government has been asked for more information.

The new punitive measures on Iran come after a first package of sanctions in October.