The U.S. Navy destroyed three boats carrying militants supported by Iran after they attacked a containership in the Red Sea, while Iran-allied militias struck a U.S. base in Syria, raising the risk that the war in Gaza could drag the U.S. into broader tensions in the region.
On Saturday evening, the Maersk Hangzhou, a Singapore-flagged container vessel that operates between Europe and Asia, came under missile attack, the U.S. said. Four boats later approached the vessel, shot at it and attempted to board it, according to Danish shipping giant
Early Sunday, helicopters from nearby U.S. Navy vessels responded to fire coming from boats controlled by Houthis, an Iranian-backed rebel group in Yemen, sinking three of them and killing the crews, the U.S. said. The fourth boat fled. The Houthis later claimed the attack and said they lost 10 fighters in the encounter.
There have been more than 20 attacks by the Houthis on commercial vessels since they started striking at commercial ships in November. A U.S. defense official said the sinking of the boats “is the first time we have seen this kind of close combat between the U.S. and the Houthis.”
White House spokesman John Kirby told ABC that the U.S. is “not looking to widen the conflict in the region.”
“We certainly do not seek conflict with the Houthis,” Kirby said.
Iranian-backed militant groups have undertaken attacks on Western interests in response to U.S. support for Israel’s military effort, including assaults on vessels passing through the Red Sea. Earlier this month, shipping companies, oil producers and cargo owners suspended transit through the Red Sea after some vessels were attacked by Houthi militants.
In light of the incident, Maersk said it has decided to delay all transits through the area for the next 48 hours.
The Iranian allies initially said they were targeting Israeli shipping activities in retaliation for the war in Gaza, but they have broadened the attacks to other vessels sailing through the Bab el-Mandeb, a key crossing between the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.
“The attacks have lost all connection to Israel completely,” said Ami Daniel, chief executive of maritime artificial intelligence company Windward Ltd. “The Houthis don’t seem to be deterred by the coalition.”
On Sunday, British Foreign Minister David Cameron told his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, that “Iran shares responsibility for preventing these attacks given their longstanding support to the Houthis.” Amir-Abdollahian blamed Western support for Israel for instability in the broader Middle East.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday said he supports an international coalition to protect waterways, but said that Israel “won’t let this threat hurt the citizens of Israel and the Israeli economy.”
Christopher Long, intelligence director at Neptune P2P and a former British Navy captain in the Persian Gulf, said he was concerned the lethal exchange between the Houthis and the U.S. “will now create a situation where Iran may intervene directly against the U.S. in support of the Houthi.”
Houthi spokesman Mohammad Abd al-Salam discussed “regional security issues” with Iran’s security chief, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, on Sunday in Tehran, Iran’s state news agency IRNA said.
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