Yesterday, our friend Laurence Sanford of the American Security Council Foundation gave us a backgrounder on the Houthis, Iran’s radical Islamist proxies in Yemen.
In Houthi Who? Mr. Sanford explained The Houthis are an Iranian proxy, as are Hezbollah and Hamas. The Houthis control the northern part of Yemen, which borders the Red Sea. Most of the southern portion of Yemen is controlled by Sunni Muslims supported by Saudi Arabia and recognized by the U.N. and United States as the official government of Yemen. Another southern portion, which includes the port city of Aden, is controlled by the United Arab Emirates-supported Southern Transitional Council. Al-Qaeda and Islamic State also control a small area of Yemen. See map for present status.
After the October 7 terror attack by Hamas against Israel, the Houthis declared war on Israel. Rockets were fired towards Israel that were intercepted by U.S. Navy ships in the Red Sea. The latest missile/drone attacks have been on ships owned by Israelis. The Houthis have also fired rockets at Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for their support of the Yemen Sunni government.
Now the Houthis have upped the ante with more general attacks on merchant shipping in the Red Sea.
U.S. Naval Institute News reported Yahya Sare’e, the spokesman for the Houthi military, released a series of posts on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday saying Yemen would block all ships that head to or from Israel and issued a warning to mariners.
The need for expanding Red Sea security comes as the Houthis have launched multiple drones at ships in the Red Sea, the Houthis have claimed are Israeli-linked. This includes M/V Unity Explorer, which sent out a distress call after being attacked by drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas, USNI News reported.
The Associated Press reports a missile fired yesterday by the Islamist terrorists slammed into a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen near a key maritime chokepoint, the rebels and authorities said Tuesday.
The assault on the oil and chemical tanker Strinda expands a campaign by the Iranian-backed rebels targeting ships close to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait into apparently now striking those that have no clear ties to Israel. That potentially imperils cargo and energy shipments coming through the Suez Canal and further widens the international impact of the Israel-Hamas war now raging in the Gaza Strip.
Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree issued a video statement saying the rebels only fired on the vessel when it “rejected all warning calls.”
Of course, what the Houthis call “warning calls” were actually demands to surrender the ship and crew to become Houthi hostages.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which provides warnings to sailors in the Middle East, earlier reported a fire aboard an unidentified vessel off Mokha, Yemen, with all the crew aboard being safe. The coordinates of that fire correspond to the last known location of the Strinda based off satellite tracking data.
A French guided-missile frigate also came under attack from two lethal drones launched from Yemen, officials in Paris said Monday.
On Saturday, two lethal drones fired from Yemen attacked the French guided-missile frigate FS Languedoc (653) while it was operating in the Red Sea, the French Minister of Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu told the French Senate.
“This weekend, two drones coming from Yemen deliberately targeted … our multi-mission frigate Languedoc which was carrying out a patrol in the Red Sea under the authority of the Admiral for the Indian Ocean based in Abu Dhabi,” he said.
Lecornu told the French Senate the ship downed the two drones with guided missiles.
Last week, White House officials said they were working to create an international force to tamp down attacks.
John Kirby, the spokesman for the National Security Council, told reporters last week that the State and Defense departments are working to strengthen the Combined Maritime Forces, which includes 39 partners and is headquartered in Bahrain alongside U.S. 5th Fleet.
“Our focus at this time is ensuring that there are sufficient military assets in place to deter these Houthi threats to maritime trade in the Red Sea and in the surrounding waters to the global economy writ large,” Kirby said, according to USNI News.
The White House said the group would be under Combined Task Force 153. CTF-153 is an existing group that’s run by the Combined Maritime Forces partnership and tasked with Red Sea security. The CTF was established last year and has been commanded by both U.S. and Egyptian commanders.
What Biden is desperately trying to obfuscate is that Iran is behind all of these attacks and conflicts. Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen are all Iranian clients and proxies that are being furnished arms, training, logistics and money by Iran’s Islamist regime.
None of this would be happening without Iranian approval, and behind Iran lurk the dark shadows of Communist China and Putin’s Russia.
The Capitol Switchboard is (202-224-3121), call today and tell your Senators and Representative that you want vigorous congressional oversight and investigations into why Biden continues to ignore Iranian proxy attacks against the United States and our allies, including Israel.
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If Trump was in the White House, the Houthi's wouldn't even attempt these attacks on shipping. Unfortunately, with Biden, Blinken and Nod in the drivers seat, we may find ourselves drawn into a shooting war. Real trouble may be just around the corner.
Where's the USS New Jersey when you need it ?