MOSCOW, September 19 (HS/RIA Novosti) - Italy is ready to send up to four ships, including frigates, to ensure the security of navigation in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the Corriere della Sera daily reported on Saturday, citing sources.

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto reportedly stressed in a letter to EU foreign affairs and security chief Kaja Kallas the need to adopt effective and timely decisions to prevent the threat of disruption to maritime traffic in the strait that links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

Italy is ready to act independently if no other members of the European Union's updated Aspides maritime mission step up, the daily reported. It expects to share the financial burden with other EU states.

Crosetto said that the Italian Navy would ensure the safe passage of Italian ships through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which Yemen's Houthis threaten to block. An Italian warship escorted a merchant vessel off the Houthi-controlled coast of Yemen on Friday.

The minister said that Rome would not wait for the EU maritime mission's decisions and called for avoiding bureaucratic delays.

The situation in Yemen escalated in mid-July when pro-government forces struck Sanaa airport just as a plane from Iran, carrying a delegation of Houthi leaders, was landing. The Houthis blamed Saudi Arabia for the attack and declared war on the kingdom, vowing to continue hostilities until the blockade of Houthi-controlled territories was lifted. They have since made significant gains in southwestern and western Yemen, seizing the Red Sea coast and settlements near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, including the important port of Mocha.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar