Peter Winter, the US Embassy spokesperson in Cairo, said that the Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea are raising the prices of food, fuel and humanitarian aid in the region. Winter said that Egypt and other countries that benefit from the Red Sea and Suez Canal trade will suffer the most from the Houthi attacks. He also said that Jordan, which has only one port in Aqaba, is at risk of losing its access to the world because of the traffic problems in the Red Sea. Winter defended the US strikes on Yemen, saying that they were “a response to the unprecedented Houthi attacks on the international naval vessels in the Red Sea. “The Houthis’ actions also make it more expensive to deliver food to the Yemeni people.”On 18 December, the US and 20 of its allies launched an operation called “Prosperity Guardian” to protect the navigation in the Red Sea and “to deal with the threats to the Egyptian economic interests in the Red Sea.”

Source: Daily News Egypt January 17, 2024 14:34 UTC