"Moreover, we are ready to ensure the safe passage of their ships in the Red Sea, because free navigation plays a significant role for our country"

Russian and Chinese vessels will travel safely through the Red Sea, where the Iran-backed Yemeni rebel group has been attacking commercial ships in support of the Palestinians in Gaza, according to a top Huthi official.

Senior Huthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti maintained that the waterways surrounding Yemen, which some shipping companies are avoiding due to the continuous war, were safe as long as vessels were not connected to specific nations, primarily Israel, in an interview that was published by the Russian publication Izvestia on Friday.

"As for all other countries, including Russia and China, their shipping in the region is not threatened," he said.

"Moreover, we are ready to ensure the safe passage of their ships in the Red Sea, because free navigation plays a significant role for our country."

He further said that attacks on ships "in any way connected with Israel" would not stop.

The US and British-affiliated ships were recently declared fair target by the Iran-backed rebels, following the two nations' airstrikes in Yemen in retaliation for the ongoing attacks.

After the US launched new strikes on rebel targets the previous day, the Huthis claimed early on Friday that they had carried out another attack on a US ship.

Since Hamas's horrific attack on Israel on October 7, which sparked the start of the Gaza conflict, the Huthis have repeatedly attacked the crucial maritime channels surrounding Yemen.

In the interview on Friday, Bukhaiti stated that the ships' disregard for Huthi directives to alter their course was to responsibility for the shipping strikes.

Using the group's official name, he declared, "Ansar Allah does not pursue the goal of capturing or sinking this or that sea vessel."

"Our goal is to raise the economic costs for the Jewish state in order to stop the carnage in Gaza."

Bukhaiti justified the seizure of the Galaxy Leader, a commerce ship associated with an Israeli entrepreneur, by his organization in November, calling it "a precautionary step for everyone else to follow our requirements".

He continued, saying that the ship's crew, who are currently detained, "are fine, and we are giving them a warm welcome".

The US Navy commander has stated that the ships involved had connections to numerous countries, despite the Huthis' insistence that their attacks are limited to certain nationality ships.

End//voice7news.tv