Germany is expected to participate in a European Union naval mission to protect shipping in the Red Sea, the head of the German parliamentary defense committee said.

EU foreign ministers are expected to approve a naval mission later this month to join efforts in protecting international shipping amid attacks by Iran-backed Houthis on commercial vessels.

Speaking at her party's reception for the new year on Sunday, Maria-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann said the aim of the mission would be for EU frigates to protect commercial vessels passing through the strait.

The approaches to the Suez Canal, one of the world's most important shipping lanes, have been all but paralyzed by attacks on passing vessels by Iran-backed Houthi forces on the Yemen coast.

"This is an attack on free trade and has to be countered," Strack-Zimmermann said. Newspaper Welt am Sonntag earlier reported that the German frigate Hessen would set sail for the Red Sea on Feb. 1.

Parliament must approve any foreign deployment of Germany's armed forces.

The United States has already formed a naval coalition to guard the Red Sea shipping lanes. American and British militaries recently launched air and missile attacks on Houthi bases in Yemen after repeated warnings to the militant group to stop its attacks remained ineffective.