The European Union is mulling over expanding the mandate of its Red Sea naval operation as the Iran-backed Houthis are reported to be preparing to close the Bab el-Mandeb strait at Tehran's behest, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told Euronews during a visit to the mission's vessels and headquarters in Djibouti.
"If one vital trade route is closed, then we need the other one to be clearly open," Kallas said aboard one of the EU's patrol vessels. "We are discussing also whether we can change the mandate to include minesweeping."
She also signalled that ships pledged to a separate coalition assembled to protect the Strait of Hormuz, which she described as "not functioning yet," could be redeployed to Aspides in the interim.
"It also has increased the discussions of what more we can do," she said. "So if those ships that have been promised to the Coalition of the Willing, because they are just waiting, could be deployed here under operational speed as long as the Coalition of the Willing is not functional yet."
"If those ships that have been promised to the Coalition of the Willing could be deployed here under Aspides as long as the Coalition of the Willing is not functional yet," she said.
