The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday authorized continued reporting on attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels, who have defied its previous demands to immediately halt all such attacks.
The resolution, cosponsored by the United States and Greece, extends the requirement that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres provide monthly reports to the Security Council about Houthi attacks in the Red Sea until Jan. 15, 2026.
Acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea said the resolution recognizes the need for continued vigilance “against the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist threat.”
She cited the two latest attacks by Houthis against civilian cargo vessels, the MV Magic Seas and the MV Eternity C, which caused both vessels to sink and led to the loss of innocent seafarers and saw crew members taken hostage.
“The United States strongly condemns these unprovoked terrorist attacks, which demonstrate the threat that the Houthis pose to freedom of navigation and to regional economic and maritime security,” Shea said, reiterating the council’s demand for an immediate halt to Houthi attacks and the release of all crew members kidnapped from the Eternity C.
Greece’s U.N. Ambassador Evangelos Sekeris said the Houthi attacks have continued to fuel mistrust in the international maritime community, stressing that security and freedom of navigation are essential for the stability of global supply chains and economic development.
“If the Red Sea region — a critical international maritime route — becomes even more degraded, it will expose the international community to more acute security risks and economic uncertainty,” he warned.
The vote in the 15-member council was 12-0 with Russia, China and Algeria abstaining because of attacks against Yemen in violation of its sovereignty, a clear reference to U.S. airstrikes against the Houthis who control most of northern Yemen. The Trump administration has carried out the strikes because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on close ally Israel.
Arms dealers affiliated with Houthi militants in Yemen are using X and Meta platforms to traffic weapons – some US-made – in apparent violation of the social media firms’ policies, a report has revealed.
The report by the Washington DC-based Tech Transparency Project (TTP), which focuses on accountability for big tech, found Houthi-affiliated arms dealers have been openly operating commercial weapon stores for months, and in some cases years, on both platforms.
Meta, which owns WhatsApp, and X are scaling back their content moderation policies at a moment when experts say disinformation and illicit trafficking is on the rise.
The 130 Yemen-based X accounts and 67 WhatsApp business accounts identified by TTP offered high-powered rifles, grenade launchers and other military equipment for sale. Many of the arms dealers sold what appeared to be US-produced weapons, some emblazoned with “Property of US Govt”, as well as other western military weapons that were stamped with “Nato”.
The report does not specify the arms dealers’ customers but given the high price of the weapons, with some rifles being sold for as much as $10,000 (£7,500), it is likely buyers could be other militants.
X and Meta prohibit arms dealing on their platforms. Many of the arms dealers were subscribers to X Premium and users of WhatsApp Business – services that are supposed to be moderated.
Katie Paul, the director of TTP, said: “X and WhatsApp both have policies against weapons sales but they are allowing arms traders linked to a US-designated terrorist group to traffic weapons on their platforms. In some cases these companies may be profiting off violations of their own policies that create risks for US national security.”
More than half of the X accounts listed their location as Sana’a, the Houthi-controlled capital of Yemen, and many regularly shared pro-Houthi content. Others sold weapons in containers marked with the Houthi logo, which states “God is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse be upon the Jews, victory to Islam”.
Several accounts identified by TTP were subscribed to X Premium, which allowed them to post extended videos. One account featured an “unboxing” video of an American M249 SAW, a light machine gun used by the US military. Other accounts used the tip feature, which allows X users to directly send donations to them.
X prohibits the use of its platforms by individuals who “promote [terrorist organisations’] illicit activities”, and says it does not allow terrorist groups to use its premium services.
Adverts appeared in the comments of posts selling weapons, suggesting X could be making money off the posts. In one instance, X placed an ad for a company selling Tesla accessories under a post where an arms dealer offered an “all-American” Glock 17 handgun.
X declined to comment on the findings of TTP’s investigation when approached by the Guardian.
WhatsApp says it reviews business account profiles and checks images before they are added to catalogues. It is unclear why the review process missed the images and accounts, many of which clearly identify themselves as arms dealers and link to Yemeni bricks-and-mortar gun shops in their biographies.
A spokesperson for WhatsApp said: “If we identify or are made aware of US-designated terrorist organisations attempting to use our service, we will take appropriate action – including banning accounts – to comply with our legal obligations.”
TTP found that the vast majority of the Houthi-affiliated arms dealers’ accounts on X and WhatsApp were created after the layoffs at both companies.
Taimur Khan, the head of Gulf regional operations at Conflict Armament Research, said tracing exactly how US-made weapons got to Houthi-held territory was difficult and there were several possible explanations.
Some of the weapons, particularly the American M4 rifles, were possibly from stocks supplied to Yemeni government forces before 2014 that were seized by the Houthis when they launched their insurgency.
Non-American weapons are also smuggled into Yemen along other regional trafficking routes. They are also supplied directly to the Houthis via their allies, such as Iran.
Earlier this year, the US imposed sanctions on a Houthi arms smuggling network that was accused of procuring “tens of millions of dollars’” worth of Russian weapons with the assistance of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
The UN Security Council on January 2024 have passed a resolution condemning “in the strongest terms” the multiple attacks by Houthi rebels off the coast of Yemen which have disrupted global trade and raised fears of further spillover from the war in Gaza.