Italy upholds international law and "won't hesitate" to respond to an attack on its naval or cargo vessels from an attack "by land or sea", foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Wednesday.
"The European Union's Aspides mission (in the Red Sea) is part of Europe's defence," Tajani told the conservative Il Tempo newspaper in an interview.
"Today (on Tuesday) the destroyer Caio Duilio shot down two drones (fired towards it from Yemen by pro-Palestinian Houthi militants)," Tajani stated.
"We uphold international law and protect our cargo ships that transit the Red Sea. We won't hesitate to take action to defend ourselves from attack from land or sea," said Tajani
Italy comands Aspides, which launched on 19 February to ensure freedom of navigation in the key Red Sea trade route.
Around a third of Italy's seaborne exports pass through the Suez Canal, so Rome has a direct commercial interest in shielding its ships.
The Caio Duilio downed a Houthi drone on 2 March and was forced to take out a Houthi missile in the Red Sea on 4 March when it came within six kilometres of the warship. It was a rare engagement by the Italian navy, which has largely avoided direct action since World War II.
In an interview with Italian daily La Repubblica in February, senior Houthi official, Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Iran-backed Houthis' supreme revolutionary committee, warned Italy to be neutral in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and urged it to pressure Israel to stop bombing and blockading the Gaza Strip.
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