The Sun · 10/13/2026 · 0 views

Iran’s brutal rebels are strangling Middle East – UK must put boots on ground to break Red Sea siege, ex-Nato boss warns

BRITAIN should put boots on the ground in the Middle East to defeat Iran’s bloodthirsty Houthi rebels before global trade collapses, a former Nato commander has warned.

Escalating missile and drone attacks by the Iran-backed terror group have left the gulf kingdom reeling and oil prices surging across the world.

Sir Richard Shirreff told The Sun: “This is Europe’s issue, Nato’s issue and we cannot bury our heads in the sand.

“It’s a very complex problem. You need a properly thought through joint operation – land, sea, air, space, special forces, logistics.”

Thank you!

Please provide a valid email.

Your info will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy

You'll now receive top stories, breaking news, and more, straight to your email.

At least 20 people, including a US national, were killed in four Houthi attacks on Riyadh’s main airport last week.

The deadliest came on Saturday when the militia unleashed a barrage of missiles at King Khalid International Airport , killing 13 and injuring 300.

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, 41, has fled into hiding as parts of the Saudi capital have been transformed into a conflict zone.

Sir Richard said: “The Saudi’s are being strangled by this bunch of tribesmen from the mountains of North Yemen who’ve got seriously sophisticated kit able to close their airspace.

“This is going to need a sophisticated operation, the sort of operation that needs a coalition to give political backing and military capability.”

With attacks targeting multiple fronts, Saudi Arabia has been pleading for offensive and defensive support from the US, Europe and the Middle East.

Most read in The Sun

Youth minimum wage hikes are costing people jobs, Kemi Badenoch warns

Dirty NAPPIES, children's toys & a caravan dumped outside abandoned school

Civil servant ‘had FIVE taxpayer-funded jobs at same time to rake in cash’

“The events of recent weeks are serious. Our response must be equally serious,” Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman said on Monday.

Over the weekend Trump said he “may” join Saudi Arabia in strikes on the pro-Tehran militia .

In response, the Houthis threatened “swift and painful” retaliation against the US and its regional interests.

But the delay will “play right into the hands” of Iran and its Houthi proxies, Sir Richard said.

He added: “The only way to really solve a problem like this is to get stuck in – mount an operation with the Saudis, with the Yemenis, to conquer the Houthis.

“Is America really ready for the sort of ask that that requires? I don’t think they are. There is no appetite for military escalation ahead of the mid terms.

“America is in a really difficult position here.”

The Houthis say they are targeting the Saudis because of their support for Yemen’s government forces in the country’s civil war.

Fierce fighting reignited in July after a fragile 2022 truce collapsed following the outbreak of the US-Iran war.

And the rebels have threatened that “worse is yet to come” if Saudi Arabia does not back down.

Sir Richard said: “Trump launched this war against Iran. And the rest of the world will say – it’s your problem.

“But this is Europe’s issue, this is Nato’s issue. Our maritime routes are being impacted.

“In fact, Nato and European maritime routes are being impacted and global routes are being impacted.

“This is the sort of operation that needs a wide ranging coalition to give political backing and military capability.”

Fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis spiralled out of control after the rebel group seized stretches of the Red Sea coast last month.

The Houthis are trying to choke off oil tanker traffic through the Bab el Mandeb strait – a crucial artery Saudi Arabia needs to export oil.

The move has disrupted the global oil trade, with the price of Brent crude oil tipping back over $105 a barrel on Monday.

It comes as the US and Iran remain locked in a struggle for control over the Strait of Hormuz – a global trade route that sees one fifth of the world’s oil pass through.

Without shipping access to the Red Sea or the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia – the world’s biggest exporter – will have to move oil through the Suez Canal.

Sir Richard said: “It adds time and money – and the price of oil will just keep going up.

“That has massive global implications at a time of extraordinary instability.”

Who are the Houthis?

The Houthis, a Shia militant group, now controls large swaths of Yemen.

After the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, they sprung from relative obscurity to holding roughly £1trillion of world trade hostage – turning one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes into an active warzone.

Their warped battle cry is “Death to America, Death to Israel, curse the Jews and victory to Islam”.

After the October 7 massacre, Houthis began launching relentless drone and missile attacks on any ships – including warships – they deem to be connected with Israel in solidarity with their ally, Hamas.

In reality, they targeted commercial vessels with little or no link to Israel – forcing global sea traffic to largely halt operations in the region and sending shipping prices around the world soaring.

The sea assaults added to the carnage in the Middle East tinderbox as intense ripples from Israel’s war in Gaza were felt across the region – with Iran accused of stoking the chaos.

The group’s chiefs have previously said their main targets are Israel, and its allies the US and Britain.

And despite repeated threats from the West and joint US and UK strikes blitzing their strongholds in Yemen – Iran’s terror proxy appears undeterred.

The UK and US hit Houthi bases after the terror group targeted boats in the shipping lane.

Israel has also hammered the group with airstrikes, reportedly hitting oil storage tanks at the port in Al Hudaydah.

Saudi-backed Yemeni forces launched a counteroffensive earlier this month, supported by coalition airstrikes.

But their planes have been shot down and critical oil pipelines have been forced to shut for weeks on end.

UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said Monday that the government is examining how to support Saudi Arabia.

But Streeting said Britain would not get involved in offensive operations “at this stage”.

It comes three weeks after PM Andy Burnham said British planes will provide “defensive” air-to-air refuelling for Saudi jets.

Sir Richard said: “Trying to resolve the issue of the Houthis is a really tough nut to crack.

“But there are lessons here from the British experience in Oman.”

During the 1970s British military forces joined the Sultanate of Oman to defeat communist-rebel insurgents.

Sir Richard said: “That was dealt with very successfully by putting British officers into the Omani army on secondment, and some remarkable operations by the SAS where they effectively worked with the tribes.

“That’s the sort of sophisticated operation the Houthis are going to need.

“And it has got to be Yemeni-led because it’s their country.”

It comes amid rising tensions between Trump and Europe over the US president’s diesel deal with Russia.

Sir Richard said: “Europe’s got to be prepared to step up to the mark without American support.