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The Pentagon announced the launch of the multinational operation Prosperity Guardian aimed ‘to protect global shipping in the Red Sea’ amid the ongoing attacks by Ansar Allah forces on commercial vessels.
The Pentagon chief has arrived in Bahrain to negotiate an operation. The members of the operation include the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain. Several other countries also agreed to join the operation, but preferred not to publicly declare their participation. On December 12, the government of Yemen, supported by Saudi Arabia, announced that it had received an invitation from the US to join the military coalition.
“Operation Prosperity Guardian is bringing together multiple countries … to jointly address security challenges in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, with the goal of ensuring freedom of navigation for all countries and bolstering regional security and prosperity,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin claimed.
According to US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, some of the member countries will be engaged in patrols, while the others will provide intelligence support in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The operation will be led by the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, Joint Task Force 153, which was established in April 2022 to enhance maritime security in the same waters.
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The members of the coalition reportedly do not consider strikes on Houthi military facilities in Yemen yet. However, the deployment of US Navy and operations of other ally countries allows Washington to gain control of one of the largest shipping route in the world, while taking the role of the world peacekeeper.
The Shiite movement declared it would continue operations in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden despite the operations of the US-led coalition.
