Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched their first attack in six days on the Red Sea, opening fire on a grain cargo ship bound for Iran, the U.S. military said, raising questions about the group’s targeting.
There has been a lull in attacks on ships claimed by the Houthis to be linked to Israel, amid claims that US and UK strikes against the group have succeeded in neutralizing its capabilities or that potential targets have been prevented from entering the Red Sea.
The Houthis said they were acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, but this was questioned by British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, who accused the Houthis of “opportunistic pirates”.
U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said in a statement: “Between 3:30 and 3:45 a.m. on February 12, Yemen time, Iran-backed Houthi militants launched two rounds of missiles from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen toward Mandeb. missiles.
“Both missiles were fired at the MV Star Iris, a Greek-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship transiting the Red Sea carrying corn from Brazil. The ship was reportedly seaworthy and damaged Minor, no injuries to the crew.” It added that it was noted that the destination of the MV Star Iris was the port of Iman Khomeini in Iran.
The Houthis tried to describe the Xinghong as an “American” ship but provided no evidence.
Iran provides financial and physical support to the Houthis, and the U.S. Navy has reportedly intercepted ships smuggling weapons from Iran to the group.
Houthi leader Abdulmalik Houthi claimed in a televised speech last week that Israeli ships had stopped entering the Red Sea, but the U.S. Navy estimated that about 100 ships were still operating in the waterway, some of which may have been The Houthis consider it a “danger”. Target. Even though some ships entering the Red Sea now carry identification cards with Muslim-only crews, it would be surprising if the slowdown in Houthi attacks did not reflect to some extent a weakening of their capabilities.
The United States said it carried out four consecutive days of attacks on Houthi positions from Wednesday to Saturday, one of the most intense periods of attacks on the group since the operation began on January 11.
U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Steven Feigin warned last week that the U.S. decision to designate the Houthis as a specially designated global terrorist organization will take effect on February 16 if attacks do not stop. The designation is intended to disrupt third-party funding of the group.
Another constraint facing the Houthis is the fear that a potentially favorable Saudi-brokered peace deal to end Yemen’s civil war could be withdrawn if attacks continue.
All parties say the Saudi peace deal is currently frozen, and some in the U.N.-recognized government in Aden, where Saudi Arabia is helping to fight the Houthis, hope to use the opportunity to rewrite the outlines of the agreement.
The U.N. envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, is trying to keep the spirit of the deal alive, and Saudi Arabia this week provided an additional $250 million to keep the Aden government afloat and pay people’s wages to buy food.
Djibouti, which faces Yemen across the Red Sea, also strongly opposes Israel’s attack on Gaza and rejected a U.S. plan to install missile launchers in the country aimed at Yemen. Djibouti Prime Minister Abdelkader Kamil Mohammed said in an interview with the BBC that the United States is only allowed to deploy MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems on its territory to protect American military installations in the country from Yemen s attack.
The United States has no right to use Djibouti as a base for its war against Yemen. Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssef confirmed that Djibouti would not condemn Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait, considering them “legitimate relief for Palestinians.”
A typical container ship bound for Northern Europe is now forced to sail around the Cape of Good Hope instead of the Red Sea, carrying an estimated $1 million in extra fuel.
