Houthis Claim Fresh Attacks on Red Sea Shipping

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Facts

  • Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have said that they fired naval missiles at two commercial vessels, a Marshall Islands-flagged ship mistakenly referred to as American and a Barbados-flagged British ship, in the Red Sea on Tuesday.1
  • The latest attacks in the group's months-long campaign against ships linked with Israel, as well as American and British warships patrolling the area — purportedly to protest the war in Gaza — took place west of the port of Hodeidah in Yemen.2
  • The Greek-owned bulk carrier Star Nasia reported 'minor damage but no injuries' after coming under fire from three Houthi ballistic missiles, with the US Central Command adding that the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Laboon shot down one missile.3
  • Earlier, the British-owned general cargo ship Morning Tide was able to sail through the sea despite reports of an explosion near the vessel — its owner, Furadino Shipping Ltd, reported that the craft was undamaged and that nobody was hurt.4
  • This comes as an unclassified Defense Intelligence Agency report released on Tuesday claimed that Houthi militants have fired Iranian-made missiles and drones in recent attacks. Additionally, the US military carried out strikes against two Houthi one-way drone boats loaded with explosives.5
  • Meanwhile, in a video recorded last Friday but released only on Tuesday, US Special Envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking claimed that diplomatic efforts are underway to find a climbdown for the Houthis, enhance the situation in the Red Sea, and prevent disruptions to food and medicine deliveries in Yemen and Gaza.6

Sources: 1Reuters (a), 2Al Jazeera, 3ABC News, 4BBC News, 5Voice of America and 6Reuters (b).

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by CNN. While the Houthis may say that their reasons for targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea are motivated by a self-sacrificing desire to end the Israel-Hamas war, the truth is that this aggression is an opportunistic power-grab meant to improve their own international and domestic standing, as well as distract from the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The group has banked on western aversion to conflict, but retaliatory strikes are a powerful way of deterring these attacks from happening again.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Gulf International Forum. It should have become clear by now that strikes will not sway the Houthis from their pro-Palestinian stance, nor will they stop the attacks on vessels in the Red Sea. In fact, military escalation can only make the situation worse, as the Houthis stand steadfast in their support of Gaza and will continue these attacks as acts of solidarity. Given that restoring stability in the Red Sea depends entirely on Israel halting its offensive on the enclave, Washington and London must push for a cease-fire in Gaza instead of fueling tensions in the Middle East.

Predictions