Italy's foreign minister says not intimidated by Houthi threats

Italy would not be intimidated of threats by Yemen's Houthis and will respond to their attacks, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Monday.

"We defend mercantile ships' traffic. We don't attack anybody, but we don't want anybody to attack us," he told reporters at the sidelines of an event in Rome. "There is free maritime circulation," if there are attacks, we will respond by defending Italian mercantile ships," he added.

"We won't be intimidated by any statement by the Houthis, which are a terrorist organization," said Tajani.

The comments come after Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, leader of the Yemeni group, told Italian daily La Repubblica that Italy must be neutral in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while putting pressure on Israel to stop attacks on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 27,000 people.

The Houthis have been targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea, particularly those bound for Israel, since November. They say their attacks aim to put pressure on Israel to halt its deadly onslaught on the Gaza Strip, prompting the U.S. and UK to launch retaliatory airstrikes against targets inside Yemen.

The Red Sea is one of the world's most frequently used sea routes for oil and fuel shipments.

Italy said Friday it would provide the admiral in command of a EU Red Sea naval mission, which will be launched this month to protect ships from attacks by Houthi militias.