British Royal Navy Seizes Roughly half a ton of drugs in the Arabian Sea
On Wednesday, the British Royal Navy announced that its ship, the Lancaster, had seized approximately half a ton of drugs during an inspection of a suspicious vessel in the northern Arabian Sea. An in-depth search of the craft unearthed over 200 packages containing a total of 260kg of heroin and 200kg of hashish, the British Navy said. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: "HMS Lancaster's four seizures this year show clearly the benefit that our continuous presence in the Gulf is having for regional and global security." The ship is deployed to the Middle East on a long-term mission and is part of the UK's continuous presence in the Gulf.
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan held a meeting on Wednesday with his counterparts, the Emirati Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly session. According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Al Nahyan and Blinken "welcomed Saudi Arabia's hosting of the Houthi delegation to encourage Yemeni parties to reach a roadmap for ending the Yemeni conflict.
The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the United States issued a joint statement today, Wednesday, addressing various regional and international issues. According to the statement, which was published on the GCC website, the foreign ministers of the GCC countries and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in their meeting held in New York, "reaffirmed their shared commitment to building upon the achievements of previous ministerial meetings and enhancing consultation, coordination, and cooperation in all fields."The statement welcomed the diplomatic communication of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the GCC countries with Iran to seek regional de-escalation.
The United Kingdom welcomes the Saudi-Houthi discussions conducted in Riyadh as part of the diplomatic efforts to end the Yemen war. The UK emphasizes the importance of progressing in the Yemeni-Yemeni comprehensive dialogue under the auspices of the United Nations. Charles Harper, the charge d'affaires and Deputy Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Yemen, said, "The Yemeni people deserve peace after nearly eight years of war." Harper welcomed the ongoing efforts and dialogue by all parties seeking a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Yemen.
The military media of the Joint Forces published a video today, Wednesday, containing confessions of two cell members affiliated with the Houthi group. The two Houthi members confessed that they had planned to plant explosive devices on the asphalt road connecting Taiz to the western coast in August of the past year. According to the video, the cell members confessed to planting explosive devices on public roads, most in Taiz province, resulting in primarily civilian casualties.
