G7 Demands Houthi Ceasefire in Red Sea as UK Deploys Refueling Tanker to Aid Saudi Arabia

Diplomatic demands at the United Nations

Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven nations and European Union High Representative Kaja Kallas issued a joint declaration on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, demanding an immediate halt to Houthi attacks in Yemen and the Red Sea. The statement instructed the militia to stop all military actions against commercial shipping and return to political negotiations. The coalition also demanded that Iran terminate its supply of weapons and operational backing to the group.

“We call on the Houthis to immediately cease all military actions, threats and attacks against civilian shipping, and to return in good faith to the political process.”

Tehran rejected the G7 demand, stating that its involvement remains limited to political support. In the joint statement, ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States reaffirmed their commitment to the territorial integrity of Yemen, endorsing peace initiatives led by UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg. The group warned that maritime disruptions threaten global supplies of energy, fertilizers and food.

Military clashes across the Red Sea and Saudi territory

The diplomatic intervention followed an expansion of hostilities that began when US-Israeli operations hit Iran in late February, drawing Yemen into the conflict in July. In early September, Houthi forces captured the Yemeni Red Sea coastline, including the port of Mocha along the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

“Their reprehensible acts constitute a dangerous escalation trajectory that risks further exacerbating the conflict, harming international trade and creating economic instability on a global scale.”

Cross-border strikes escalated when Houthi forces launched assaults against four southern Saudi cities, injuring more than 70 people and setting fires at regional oil installations. Saudi Arabia conducted over 60 retaliatory airstrikes on Houthi-held provinces. On 19 September, the Saudi-led coalition announced that air defences intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile targeting Riyadh, an engagement confirmed by coalition spokesperson Brigadier General Turki al-Malki.

Maritime chokepoints and British military deployment

Houthi control over Bab el-Mandeb, paired with Iranian naval pressure in the Strait of Hormuz, has restricted commercial maritime corridors. The Strait of Hormuz carries one-fifth of global oil and liquefied gas, while Bab el-Mandeb connects Red Sea routes to the Indian Ocean, serving as an export conduit for Saudi crude to Europe. Disrupted tanker traffic prompted Saudi export suspensions, creating supply difficulties in European nations including Poland.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced that the United Kingdom will dispatch an Airbus A330 Voyager aerial refueling tanker to support Saudi combat aircraft on strike missions. The decision makes London the first Western government to offer operational assistance in this phase of the fighting, following Washington's decision to decline a Saudi military aid request made ten days earlier. Britain previously deployed a Sky Sabre air defence battery with UK personnel and permitted US forces to use the Diego Garcia base to supply more than 20 regional naval vessels. France also expressed readiness to help secure Saudi energy installations under a defensive mandate.