The United Kingdom (UK) has agreed to provide Saudi Arabia with air-to-air refuelling support for its fighter jets as the kingdom faces attacks from Houthis in Yemen, UK Prime Minister (PM) Andy Burnham said on Monday.
Burnham stated that the Royal Air Force will use an RAF Voyager aircraft to refuel Saudi jets for several weeks to support the kingdom’s efforts to defend its energy infrastructure and keep oil routes from the Gulf open. He said that the arrangement will remain under review.
The support will mark the UK’s first military deployment since Burnham took office. It will also add to the British Sky Sabre air defence system that is already operating in Saudi Arabia.
“We have received a request from Saudi Arabia for military support and I agreed to that request for defensive air-to-air refuelling,” Burnham told reporters while travelling to New York for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
He said that the decision was linked to the need to protect Britain’s interests and maintain oil supplies from the Gulf.
“On cost of living pressures and acting to secure the interests of Britain, the wider region we need to keep those pathways open,” Burnham said.
The agreement comes as fighting between the Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government has intensified. The Houthis have carried out missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, including an attack targeting Riyadh on Saturday that was intercepted.
The Houthis have also declared a blockade on Saudi shipping in the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Red Sea and have attacked Saudi-linked vessels and oil facilities inside the kingdom.
Earlier this month, the Houthis advanced inside Yemen and seized the port city of Mokha and islands in the Red Sea. Their positions give them greater ability to monitor shipping traffic through the Bab al-Mandab, a route through which around 12 percent of global trade normally passes.
Saudi Arabia has also used the waterway as an alternative route for oil exports amid disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.
Burnham also said that the UK’s support aims to help prevent further disruption to oil routes.
Burnham will meet United States (US) President Donald Trump on Tuesday for the first time and plans to urge him to de-escalate the conflict in Iran.
The UK prime minister said that the conflict has affected supply chains and contributed to economic volatility, including higher global energy prices. “Of course the message is that we want to see an end to the conflict as quickly as possible and we stand ready to play our part,” Burnham said when asked whether he will raise the issue with Trump.
