MANAMA/DUBAI: The United States on Tuesday launched a multinational operation to safeguard commerce in the Red Sea as attacks by Iran-backed Yemeni forced major shipping companies to reroute, fuelling concern over sustained disruptions to global trade.

The Houthi group, which controls vast amounts of territory in Yemen after years of war, has since last month fired drones and missiles at international vessels sailing through the Red Sea - attacks it says respond to Israel’s assault on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

This week, the attacks began to take their toll on global trade, disrupting a key trade route that links Europe and North America with Asia via the Suez Canal.

Oil major BP paused all Red Sea transits, and a slew of top shipping firms including Maersk started diverting shipments normally made through Suez around the Cape of Good Hope on Africa’s southern tip. The new route all the way around Africa adds days to journey times and incurs higher costs. The list of companies avoiding the Red Sea continued to grow on Tuesday.

The crisis, which has grown out of the war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas, is the latest in the Middle East to pit the United States and its allies against Iran and its regional Arab.

Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis in a cross-border raid on Oct. 7, drawing a devastating Israeli offensive that has killed more than 19,000 Palestinians in Gaza.

Iranian proxies including the Houthis and Lebanese Hezbollah have fired rockets at Israel since the conflict began. The Houthis have meanwhile stepped up their Red Sea attacks, threatening to target all ships heading to Israel and warning shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports.

Austin, who is on a trip to Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s headquarters in the Middle East, said Britain, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain were among nations involved in the Red Sea security operation.