Arr, the US Navy be sayin' that Iran be meddlin' in them ship attacks by them Houthi rebels in Yemen!
2024-01-22
Arrr, me hearties! Word be reachin' me ears that Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the mighty commander o' the U.S. Navy, has declared that the scurvy dogs o' Iran be playin' a direct role in them ship scallywag attacks by them Houthi rebels from Yemen durin' the Israel-Hamas war. Avast!
Iran is believed to be directly involved in ship attacks carried out by Yemen's Houthi rebels during Israel's war with Hamas, according to Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. While not explicitly stating that Tehran directed the attacks, Cooper acknowledged that the attacks associated with Iran have expanded beyond the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz into waters across the wider Middle East. The Iranian-backed Houthis have launched at least 34 attacks on shipping through the waterways leading to Egypt's Suez Canal since November. The Houthis, who have been at war with a Saudi-led coalition since 2015, have claimed that their attacks are linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict, although the ships they have targeted increasingly have little to no connection to Israel. In response, the U.S. has launched seven rounds of airstrikes on Houthi military sites. The attacks on shipping have had an economic impact, with many ships choosing to bypass the Suez Canal, leading to lower revenue for Egypt and higher shipping costs. Cooper emphasized that Iran is fueling the Houthi attacks and that they are "very directly involved" in funding, resourcing, supplying, and training the rebels. He described the ship attacks as the worst since the Tanker War of the 1980s and stated that the situation in the wider Middle East has become precarious. The Houthi rebels recently claimed an attack on a U.S.-flagged ship, and Cooper noted that the U.S. and its allies employ a "zone defense" to protect shipping in the region. The situation highlights the ongoing tensions and risks in the region as worries of a regional conflict over the Israel-Hamas war increase.