WASHINGTON – Iran wasted no time sending warships into the Red Sea on Monday, just a day after the US killed 10 Houthi fighters who attacked a commercial ship in disputed waters that separate Africa from the Middle East.
Tehran’s Alborz destroyer crossed the Bab-el-Mandeb strait and into the sea on the same day Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian praised the “strong and firm stand of the Houthis … in support of the oppressed Palestinian people,” according to state-run media. .
The Houthis, an Islamic military group backed by Iran, have launched drones and missiles at foreign ships in the Red Sea from their home in Yemen since November in response to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
On Sunday, the US Navy closed out 2023 by sinking three Houthi ships in the Red Sea in a strike that marked the first time the US had killed any member of the Iranian proxy group since the recent spate of attacks began.
Helicopters from the warships USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely opened fire on “four small Iranian-backed Houthi boats,” sinking three of them, while responding to an SOS from the Singapore-flagged vessel Maersk Hangzhou around 6:30 a.m. local time, according to US Central Command.
The Houthis have launched nearly 20 attacks on such vessels in the Red Sea so far, prompting some shipping companies to avoid the waterway altogether.
Iran sent the Alborz warship (pictured) to the Red Sea on Monday. AP photo/Fars News Agency, Mahdi Marizad
The main trade lane offers a passage between the Mediterranean Sea to the Arabian Sea, allowing ships to bypass Africa with the Suez Canal.
Iran’s decision to send warships to the Red Sea is a clear response to Washington’s calls for Tehran to condemn Houthi attacks and promote peace in the region.
But since Iran has backed most of the region’s warring parties — including Hamas, which fueled the conflict with its Oct. 7 attack on Israel — a pushback is to be expected, defense experts told The Post on Monday.
An Iranian destroyer crossed the Bab-el-Mandeb strait the same day Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian praised the Houthis for “supporting the oppressed Palestinian people.” Photo by Gallo Images/Orbital Horizon/Copernicus Sentinel Data 2021
Indeed, Iran welcomed Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam to Tehran on Monday, with Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Akbar Ahmadian praising the proxy group’s “courageous actions” against “Zionist aggression” in the region.
Although the Houthis have called the attack a response to the Israel-Hamas war and said their attacks will not end until Israel allows humanitarian aid to fully flow to Gaza, none of the attacks were aimed at Israeli Defense Force ships.
While Iran did not directly link the ship’s arrival in the Red Sea to the simmering conflict, Iranian state media reported that it “occurred amid rising tensions following Yemen’s retaliatory attacks on Israeli-owned and bound ships in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. .”
The US killed 10 Houthi fighters on December 31 after they tried to attack a commercial ship. New York Post Houthi fighters at a protest in Sana’a, Yemen on Dec. 29, 2023. OSAMAH YAHYA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“Since 2009, Iranian warships have been operating in open waters to secure shipping lanes, fight piracy and carry out other missions,” the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
However, US and coalition forces will also remain in the Red Sea after the Pentagon on December 18 announced a new partnership – dubbed “Operation Prosperity Guardian” – to counter the increasing number of attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
“This is an international challenge that demands collective action,” said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin when announcing the creation of the group. “The recent escalation in reckless Houthi attacks originating from Yemen threatens the free flow of trade, endangers innocent seafarers and violates international law.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
