Tensions in the Red Sea increased after the Houthis targeted an American ship (social networking sites)

The Ansar Allah Houthi group announced on Monday that it had targeted a US military cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden with naval missiles, while the US army denied this.

A televised statement by the Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said: “In victory for the oppression of the Palestinian people, and as part of the response to the American-British aggression against our country, the (group’s) naval forces carried out a military operation targeting an American cargo ship of the Ocean Gas type in the Gulf of Aden, with appropriate naval missiles.” .

He added that the response to the American and British attacks (on Yemen) is inevitably coming, and any new attack will not remain without response and punishment.

The US Army was quick to deny what the Houthi group reported, and described the Houthi report as a pure slander.

The US Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement, “It continued to communicate with the Ocean Gas ship throughout its safe transit.”

Since January 9, tensions have escalated in the Red Sea when the Houthis directly targeted an American ship, after they were targeting cargo ships transporting goods to and from Israel.

On January 12, the White House issued a joint statement with 10 countries that, in response to Houthi attacks against commercial ships in the Red Sea, the US and British armed forces carried out joint attacks against targets in areas controlled by the group in Yemen.

Cooper believed that the Houthi attacks were the worst since the so-called tanker war in the 1980s (Associated Press)

American accusations against Iran

In a related context, the Commander of the Fifth Fleet in the US Navy, Admiral Brad Cooper, said today, Monday, that Iran is “very directly involved” in the ship attacks carried out by the Yemeni Houthi group during the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, but he refrained from saying that Tehran stands Behind specific attacks carried out by the Houthis in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Cooper acknowledged in a phone interview with The Associated Press that Iran-linked attacks have expanded from previously threatening the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz to waters across the Middle East. “What I will say is that Iran is clearly funding, they are providing resources, they are providing, they are providing training,” he said. "They are clearly very directly involved. There is no secret."

He stressed that the Houthi attacks on commercial ships are the most important that we have seen in two generations.

"The facts are simply that they are attacking the international community; therefore, the international response is, as you can see, what the United States is doing now."

Cooper described the ship attacks that struck the Middle East as the worst since the so-called tanker war in the 1980s.

It culminated in a day-long naval battle between Washington and Tehran, and also saw America mistakenly shoot down an Iranian passenger plane, killing 290 people.

In his interview, Cooper pointed out that international commercial ships still face a serious threat from the Houthis, and stressed that what we need is the decision of this Yemeni group to stop its attacks.

Since the Palestinian resistance launched the Al-Aqsa Flood Battle, Washington has repeatedly accused Tehran and those it describes as its agents of seeking to expand the conflict.

Washington had previously announced the downing of drones and missiles launched by the Houthis towards Israel.

Source: Agencies