WASHINGTON – Iran wasted no time sending a warship to the Red Sea on Monday, just a day after the United States killed 10 Houthi fighters attacking commercial ships in the contentious waters separating Africa from the Middle East.
Tehran’s destroyer Alborz crossed the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb and entered the sea on the same day that Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian praised the “strong and vigorous stance of the Houthis… in support of the oppressed people of Palestine,” according to state media. .
The Houthis, an Iran-backed Islamist military group, have been launching drones and missiles at foreign vessels in the Red Sea from their home in Yemen since November in response to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
On Sunday, the US Navy closed out 2023 by sinking three Houthi ships in the Red Sea in an attack that marked the first time the US has killed any member of Iran’s proxy group since the recent series began. of attacks.
Helicopters from the warships USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely opened fire on “four small Iranian-backed Houthi vessels,” sinking three of them, while responding to an SOS from the Singapore-flagged Maersk Hangzhou ship around 6:30 a.m. am 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 warship Alborz (pictured) to the Red Sea on Monday. AP Photo/Fars News Agency, Mahdi Marizad
The main trade route offers passage between the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Sea, allowing ships to avoid Africa through the Suez Canal.
Iran’s decision to send a warship to the Red Sea was an apparent response to calls from Washington for Tehran to condemn Houthi attacks and foster peace in the region.
But given that Iran has backed most of the warring parties in the region – including Hamas, which caused the conflict with its Oct. 7 attack on Israel – a pushback response was to be expected, defense experts told The Post on Monday.
The Iranian destroyer crossed the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait on the same day that Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian praised the Houthis for “supporting the oppressed people of Palestine.” Photo by Gallo Images/Orbital Horizon/Copernicus Sentinel Data 2021
Indeed, Iran welcomed Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam in Tehran on Monday, and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Akbar Ahmadian praised the proxy group’s “brave actions” against “Zionist aggression” in the region.
While the Houthis have cited the attacks as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas and have said their attacks will not end until Israel allows humanitarian aid to flow fully into Gaza, none of the attacks have targeted U.S. ships. Israel Defense Forces.
While Iran did not directly link the ship’s arrival in the Red Sea to the simmering conflict, Iranian state media reported that it “comes amid rising tensions following Yemen’s retaliatory attacks on Israeli-owned and bound ships in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. .”
The United States 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 December 29, 2023. OSAMAH YAHYA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“Since 2009, Iranian warships have been operating in open waters to protect shipping lines, fight pirates and carry out other missions,” the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Still, U.S. and coalition forces will also remain in the Red Sea after the Pentagon on Dec. 18 announced a new partnership – dubbed “Operation Prosperity Guardian” – to counter the growing number of attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
“This is an international challenge that demands collective action,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in announcing the group’s formation. “The recent escalation of reckless Houthi attacks from Yemen threatens the free flow of trade, endangers innocent sailors and violates international law.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn