Russia and the Arab League condemned, on Wednesday, at a ministerial summit in Marrakesh, “the acts” against commercial shipping in the Red Sea, with the increasing attacks by Yemen’s Huthi rebels against ships linked to Israel.
This position was agreed in a declaration approved at the end of the sixth edition of the Arab-Russian Forum, held on Wednesday with the presence of several Arab foreign ministers and the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov.
The document indicates that Russia and the Arab League insist on the principle of free navigation in international waters in accordance with international law and the law of the sea.
Both parties “reject and condemn acts against the safety of maritime navigation, maritime installations, energy supply, pipelines and petroleum installations” in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, according to the statement.
The Huthi rebels, who control several parts of Yemen, including the capital Sana, announced on Tuesday their determination to continue attacking ships with links to Israel, in reaction to the war it maintains with the terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip .
Meanwhile, the United States announced the creation of a military coalition of several countries to guarantee security and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.
In the joint statement, the Arab and Russian ministries also condemned the “ongoing and escalating Israeli offensive against the Palestinian people” in the Gaza Strip.
This war was one of the central themes at the forum, where those responsible for diplomacy from Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Palestine, and those responsible for the Arab League, in addition to Lavrov, were present.