U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield condemned the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists of Yemen on Sunday for creating an “ecological disaster with devastating consequences for the region” by attacking a Greek oil tanker.
Thomas-Greenfield said the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) should “demand immediate compliance with Resolution 2722,” a resolution that the council passed in January 2024 demanding an end to Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. The ambassador did not suggest what the UNSC should do when the Houthis continue to ignore the resolution.
The Houthis attacked the Greek-flagged Sounion with pirate craft and drones on Wednesday, leaving the ship adrift and burning. The crew was rescued by European naval forces in the region and evacuated to Djibouti.
According to the European Union (EU) naval mission in the Red Sea, the Sounion was carrying 150,000 tons of crude oil when it was attacked. Observers say the ship has been on fire continuously since Friday, with flames observed at nine locations on its main deck, plus its superstructure.
The EU mission said the Sounion represents “both a navigational and an imminent environmental hazard,” but, so far, there have been “no obvious signs of an oil spill.”
“This situation underlines that these kinds of attacks pose not only a threat against the freedom of navigation but also to the lives of seafarers, the environment, and subsequently the life of all citizens living in that region,” the EU mission said.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Saturday:
Through these attacks, the Houthis have made clear they are willing to destroy the fishing industry and regional ecosystems that Yemenis and other communities in the region rely on for their livelihoods, just as they have undermined the delivery of vital humanitarian aid to the region through their reckless attacks.
The Houthis were unrepentant, broadcasting images of the burning ship on their state media in Yemen and describing the attack as “punishment to the company that owns the ship for violating the decision to ban access to occupied Palestine [sic],” by which they mean Israel.
Video released by the #Houthis seems to show the setting of explosive charges on the deck of the tanker #Sounion off the coast of Yemen in the #RedSea.
— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴☠️ (@mercoglianos) August 23, 2024
At 150k tons, this tanker is almost twice the size of Exxon Valdez and the environmental damage to the region will be massive. pic.twitter.com/EfUbg5o5j9
In their triumph video, Houthi fighters could be heard chanting the slogan of their movement: “Allah is the greatest, death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, victory to Islam.”
The Sounion is owned by an Athens-based company called Delta Tankers. Two other ships owned by the company were attacked by the Houthis earlier in August.
The Houthis are not a legitimate national government and have no rights under international law to blockade ports in Israel or anywhere else, so they are unlikely to pay much attention if the United Nations asks them to start respecting a resolution they have been ignoring for almost nine months.
