00:00The narrow stretch of water behind me is one of the world's most important trade routes
00:04and Iran and its allies are now threatening to shut it down.
00:07The Houthis in Yemen, backed by Tehran, are reported to be preparing to close
00:12the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which is just behind me here.
00:16It's a move that would send shockwaves through the global economy.
00:19It's widely seen as Iran flexing its power across the region.
00:23A second front alongside its pressure on the Strait of Hormuz.
00:27The European mission down beneath this is simple.
00:30It's this to change that to protect the ships that come through to keep this corridor open.
00:35Seeing this from the air, you understand the scale of what's at stake.
00:40What looks like a thin strip of water is actually one of the most important things in the European economy
00:46right now.
00:47That is why the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaya Callas, is here in Djibouti.
00:52Today she signed a new security agreement with the Djiboutian government to ramp up Europe's presence
00:57and visited both these naval missions patrolling these waters, warning that recent Houthi missile
01:03attacks on Saudi Arabia are a sign that instability on land becomes insecurity at sea.
01:09It's about more than supporting European operations.
01:13It's about keeping one of the world's economic lifelines open together.
01:18A speed ease defends shipping in the Red Sea.
01:21And in just over two years, it's said it's protected more than 670 merchant ships and saved 128 seafarers.
01:29Atalanta, running since 2008, guards against piracy off of Somalia.
01:34If this strait were to be choked off too, with Iran already disrupting Hormuz,
01:39the cost would reach European homes and businesses.
01:42For now, Europe is moving to keep this open.
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