Iran sends warship to Red Sea after US sinks Houthi boats
- Tehran’s move compounds volatile situation in the Red Sea following Houthi attacks
- Regional tensions have spiked since the start of the Israel-Gaza war on October 7
Iran dispatched a warship to the Red Sea after the US Navy destroyed three Houthi boats, a move that risks ratcheting up tensions and complicates Washington’s goal of securing a waterway that’s vital to global trade.
The Alborz destroyer traversed the Bab El-Mandeb strait, a narrow choke point between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, on Monday, Iranian state media said without providing further information on the vessel’s mission.
Iran’s foray into the Red Sea a day after the US action compounds a highly volatile situation in the channel that handles about 12 per cent of the world’s commerce.
The move could be seen as a challenge to the US-led maritime task force established last month to halt attacks on ships by the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels who control a swath of Yemen’s northwest, including the capital Sanaa and the Red Sea port of Al-Hudaydah.
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Yemen’s Houthi fighters behind Red Sea attacks threaten to disrupt global trade
The Houthis, in November, began attacking vessels they claimed were headed to or owned by entities in Israel in a bid to end an Israeli offensive in Gaza, after Hamas, a US-designated terrorist group, staged a shock attack inside Israel on October 7.