Iran is ‘Directly Involved’ in Yemen Houthi Rebel Ship Attacks, US Navy’s Mideast Chief Tells AP
JERUSALEM (NEWSnet/AP) — Iran is “very directly involved” in ship attacks that Yemen's Houthi rebels have conducted, U.S. Navy's top Mideast commander told The Associated Press.
Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, head of Navy's 5th Fleet, stopped short of saying Tehran directed individual attacks in Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
But Cooper acknowledged that attacks associated with Iran have expanded from previously threatening only Persian Gulf and its Strait of Hormuz into waters across the wider Middle East.
"Clearly, the Houthi actions, probably in terms of their attacks on merchant shipping, are the most significant that we’ve seen in two generations,” he told the AP in a telephone interview. “The facts simply are that they’re attacking the international community.”
Iran's mission to United Nations and the Houthi leadership in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, did not respond to a request for comment.
Since November, Iran-backed Houthis have launched at least 34 attacks on shipping through the waterways leading to Egypt's Suez Canal, a vital route for energy and cargo coming from Asia and the Middle East onward to Europe.
Houthi rebels link their attacks to the Israel-Hamas war. However, the ships they've targeted increasingly have tenuous links to Israel, or no connection at all.
Cooper acknowledged the threat from Iran's proxies and that its distribution of weapons extends from Red Sea to the far reaches of Indian Ocean. The U.S. has blamed Iran for recent drone attacks on shipping, and a U.S.-owned cargo vessel came under attack last week from Houthis in Gulf of Aden.
Cooper’s command is set to end in February with the upcoming arrival of Rear Adm. George Wikoff in Bahrain. He noted the Navy and merchant shippers still face a serious threat from the Houthis as he prepares to leave.
“What we need is a Houthi decision to stop attacking international merchant ships. Period,” Cooper said.
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