The US Central Command said that the Ansar Allah group (The HouthisYesterday, Thursday, they launched a ballistic missile towards the international shipping lane north of… Bab al-Mandab It did not cause injuries or damage, noting that the incident did not witness the intervention of American forces and that they are closely monitoring the situation.
A source from the Houthi group said that its forces took control of a ship, while another ship fled towards the shores of Somalia and were unable to control it, and that the ship that was seized is under investigation and may be taken to the coast of Yemen or released.
The British Maritime Trade Authority stated that a party describing itself as the “Yemeni Navy” informed it that it had diverted a ship towards the coast of Yemen. It also said it was investigating a report of an accident near Bab al-Mandab, north of the Yemeni port of Mokha.
The military spokesman for the Houthis, Yahya Saree, confirmed yesterday that the group carried out a military operation with a drone against a container ship called “Maersk Gibraltar” that was heading to Israel, after its crew refused to respond to calls.
Continuing ban
He pointed out that the Houthis were able to prevent the passage of several ships heading to Israel during the past 48 hours, stressing that they continue to prevent all ships heading to Israeli ports from navigating the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.
Yesterday, Thursday, the Danish shipping company Maersk denied the Houthis’ allegations that they carried out a drone strike on the “Maersk Gibraltar” ship while it was sailing towards Israel.
Maersk said earlier that the ship was targeted by a missile while it was on its way from Salalah in the Sultanate of Oman to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and that the ship and its crew were fine.
The company stressed that “the recent attacks on commercial ships in the Bab al-Mandab Strait are very disturbing. The current situation puts the lives of sailors at risk and cannot be tolerated by global trade.”
“Since the global shipping industry alone cannot resolve the matter, we call for political action to ensure an urgent halt to the escalation,” she added.
Measures necessary
On the other hand, the US Department of Defense said (Pentagon) It will take all necessary measures required to protect American ships and forces, indicating that what it described as the problem in the Red Sea is not American, but rather international and requires an international solution.
The Globes website, which specializes in the Israeli economy, reported that Tel Aviv issued instructions to Israeli ports to block the data of their arriving and departing ships, to avoid being attacked.
This comes as the US envoy to Yemen, Timothy Lenderking, said that the United States wants to form the “broadest possible maritime alliance” to protect ships in the Red Sea.
Reuters quoted Lenderking as saying that the United States wants the multinational coalition to send “an important signal from the international community that Houthi threats to international shipping will not be tolerated.”
He added that the United States aims to expand the current international maritime task force into “an international coalition that allocates some resources to protecting freedom of navigation.”
The current Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Task Force, known as Combined Task Force 153, is a 39-nation coalition led by the Vice Admiral of the US Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain.
Iranian warning
Iran has warned Washington of the consequences of forming an international coalition in the Red Sea, and Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said that the region can no longer bear more power conflicts, and that “the American side cannot take such a step.”
Ashtiani added, “If the Americans wanted to commit such foolishness, they would face enormous problems. All countries are in this region, and it is our region.”
