LONDON, January 10. /TASS/. The United Kingdom has sent its Richmond frigate to the Red Sea to ensure safe navigation in the area along with the Royal Navy's HMS Diamond destroyer, the country’s Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps said.

"HMS Richmond is on its way to the Red Sea to ensure the UK maintains a formidable presence in the face of attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis," he wrote on the X social network, formerly known as Twitter.

"With the US, we’ll continue to lead the global response to the crisis and to what is necessary to protect lives and the global economy," Shapps added.

After the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis claimed that they would launch strikes on Israeli territory and would not allow ships associated with it to pass through the waters of the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until the operation in the Palestinian enclave stopped. Since mid-November, more than 20 commercial carriers and ships have been attacked in these waters from the territory controlled by the Yemeni rebel movement Ansar Allah (Houthis), according to the US Central Command (CENTCOM).

In response, the US government declared it was forming an international coalition and preparing to launch operation Prosperity Guardian to ensure the safety of navigation in the Red Sea. The coalition is expected to include Bahrain, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, the Seychelles and France.