The US government has accused Russia of negotiating arms deliveries with Iran’s neighboring Yemeni Houthi rebel movement, which has held hostage a sea route vital to global trade with attacks on merchant ships since November.

Moscow is “making its own deals” with the Houthis to allow Russian ships to cross the Red Sea unhindered, US special envoy for Yemen Tim Lederking told AFP, speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Nations in New York.

“We have confirmation that the Russians and the Houthis are in dialogue on ways to cooperate,” including arms deliveries, he continued, during an interview he gave to AFP last Wednesday.

“We don’t know if weapons are being transported even now, but we’ve reached the point where we’re sounding the alarm to make sure that doesn’t happen,” he explained.

If arms deliveries do take place, this could “change the conflict a lot”, the US diplomat added, warning against “escalation” that would derail efforts to end the decade-long war in Yemen.

The Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country has been wracked by armed conflict since 2014, but fighting has largely stopped in the past two years thanks to efforts by international mediators.

The war has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, according to the UN.

“The idea that the Russians could be supplying the Houthis with weapons is very worrying for countries in the region,” noted Tim Lederking.

The Houthis, who control most of northern Yemen, have been attacking ships they say are “linked” to Israel and its allies, particularly the US and Britain, since November, saying they are targeting them as a sign of “solidarity” with the Palestinians. in the Gaza Strip, against the backdrop of Israel’s war with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

Their drone and missile attacks have caused a major problem in a maritime area vital to global trade and prompted Washington to form an international aviation alliance and then begin launching bombardments against Houthi positions and weapons on Yemeni soil, sometimes in cooperation with Britain.

The US special envoy spoke of ongoing diplomatic efforts, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, to end the attacks in the Red Sea.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken mainly discussed the situation in Yemen with his Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) counterparts when they met yesterday in New York, Mr Lederking noted.

“My team and I myself met with representatives of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and the (internationally recognized) government of Yemen this week,” he added.

“We are looking for the right combination of pressures and incentives to encourage the Houthis” to stop attacks in the Red Sea, added the special envoy, according to whom Washington “prioritises a diplomatic solution.”

Asked about Iran’s role in the Russia-Houthi talks, Tim Lederking said Tehran “always seeks to protect and strengthen the interests of the Houthis,” a movement that belongs to the so-called “Axis of Resistance,” a loose alliance of organizations close to in the Islamic Republic in the Near East.