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© Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Iran directly involved in Yemen Houthi rebel ship attacks, U.S. Navy's Mideast chief says
By JON GAMBRELL JERUSALEM©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
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TheRegulator
I'm starting to have those deja-vu feelings with flashbacks to the 'manufacture of consent' prior to the US invasion on Iraq. Back then it was all about fictious yellowcake from Niger, aluminum centrifuge tubes, anthrax and mysterious connections to Al Queda. Amazing to see history repeat again and again.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Nothing ficitonal about Houthis attacking ships from the civilized world.
Cards fan
Nor the fact that Iran has historically backed the Houthis.
Desert Tortoise
I don' expect the US to attack Iran. The US is more concerned about China doing something later this year around Taiwan, either a blockade or some sort of "quarantine" to drive off foreign trade to coerce Taiwan and goad the US and its allies into escalating. The US wants to husband its missile inventory for any possible military action with China. The last thing the US wants is to deplete their stores fighting Iran only to have China do something and find themselves short of the resources needed to defend Taiwan.
Desert Tortoise
You notice the US has changed their tactics to attacking Houthi missiles being prepared, something that can be done with abundant iron bombs with a JDAM kit dropped from an airplane rather than shooting their drones and missiles down with expensive and comparatively less numerous SM-2s. The Navy will need every SM-2 it has if the engage the PLAN. Iron bombs won't figure prominently in a naval and air war fought (hopefully) at stand off ranges.
PTownsend
Given Iran partners with the Russian Federation in wars, it will be interesting to watch how the leader of the US Republican Party reacts to this, after all he's ordered the murder of an Iranian leader, which upset Iranian leadership, but also has long been reported to have very close relations with Putin. Which side will X-45 and his boot-licking lemming Republicans in Congress support, most likely the one that X-45 sees might benefit him personally, he showed during his brief stint in the White House that he cares next to nothing about the US as a republic, nor about anyone not born into the patrician class like he was.
zibala
The Houthis, a Shiite rebel group that's held Sanaa since 2014 and been at war with a Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's exiled government since 2015,
Speaking of Yemen, the Houthis have contributed to the deaths of over 350,000 civilians; 50,000 of them children. But this is not worth getting outraged about because Israel is not involved.
It's just a "humanitarian disaster".
John
Aside from the very regrettable downing of the airliner, those of us old enough to remember well recall how that turned out for the Iranian “navy”.
They would do well to remind themselves before they bite off more than they can chew.
HopeSpringsEternal
Are we surprised Iran's supporting its proxy fighters? After all its arming them, training them and one must assume providing them intel and other support.
US and NATO massively supporting its Ukrainian proxy army much like Iran only far more, imagine how much intel their providing that's catalyst for Ukrainian attacks?
Proxy wars spreading fast, lots of Muslims ready to fight, something tells me the global economy, inflation and higher energy prices concerns them not!
Sanjinosebleed
Is that the same as the he US is directly involved in Israel's war crimes against the Palestinians?! Hmmm sounds a tad hypocritical but then the US is used to that...
HopeSpringsEternal
Houthis seek to cause economic damage, supply chain disruption and inflation. It's very logical one must admit.
Houthis other calc. is PR, Gaza Genocide doesn't sell with Muslims globally or youth vote. Those in office understand their electoral risk of backing Israel to vigorously and economic fallout above effects ALL voters.
WA4TKG
Surprise / Surprise…..NOT
TaiwanIsNotChina
Now you understand why the civilized world is banding together to put a stop to the Houthis.
I guess that might play in some countries, but not the US, which is 1% muslim.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Still Putin's War. A "proxy army" isn't usually so effective to fight completely on its own and kill 100k Russians.
Yeah, well, we've seen how much they fight with militaries and only the misguided youth support terrorism.
Desert Tortoise
The Houthis were not elected. They started a civil war against the UN sponsored central government and took over about a third of Yemen.
Jik7Y
I'm assuming you made a grammatical error because what is the same is Iran directing the two Islamic extremist terror groups, Hamas and Houthis.
The other similarity is that both groups are committing and contributing to genocides in their regions.
theFu
Saw a similar story, but without any US military reference or involvement a few days ago quoting Iranian sources. What we have here is the US military restating what other news organizations uncovered through non-US sources.
kurisupisu
Stop sending arms to Israel, stop the bombing in Gaza and the attacks in the Red Sea will stop according to IRAN.
It’s not rocket science!
TaiwanIsNotChina
The operative words there being "according to IRAN". The terrorist state will find something else to blackmail the world over.
Desert Tortoise
Sigh. If your were a regular reader of the maritime press you would know the US Navy has been tracking Iranian intelligence ships in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea that have been helping Houthis target Israeli connected ships for a few years now. The ships are all well known.
Long before the October 7th Hamas attack there has been a steady drumbeat of attacks against oil tankers and auto haulers in those waters. In some of the attacks divers placed explosives on the hulls of ships loading in Saudi and UAE ports. In other instances Houthis fired missiles at a couple of Israeli owned ships doing little damage. There were at least three occasions of the Houthis firing anti ship cruise missiles at US destroyers, missiles the US ships shot down. There are also lots of articles in gCaptain and Maritime Executive to name a few showing Iranian arms and missiles captured by US and allied naval vessels en route from Iran to Yemen. In fact one shipload of such weapons was given to the Ukraine last year. This is nothing new and has been going on for years, only the intensity has ramped up significantly since the Hamas attack.
Desert Tortoise
I would be curious why there is a silhouette of a Kamov KA-50 projected in the background behind the Admiral?
Raw Beer
Yes, and until those liars are held accountable, we should ignore everything they say as they try to start one more war.
Raw Beer
I applaud both the Houthis and Iran for trying to put an end to the genocide of the Palestinian people being carried out by israel and america.
The Houthis are only attacking ships heading to or from israel
But interestingly, they don't want israel to stop the genocide...
TaiwanIsNotChina
"There will be no invasion". Circa Feb. 24th, 2022.
zibala
“What I’ll say is Iran is clearly funding, they’re resourcing, they are supplying and they’re providing training," Cooper said. "They’re obviously very directly involved. There’s no secret there.”
Biden has to give the signal and bomb some key sites in Iran, and hit the Houthis hard in Yemen, where one of the worst genocides in history is being committed; the Houthi terrorists are outdoing their terrorist brothers Hamas, who are engaged in their own genocide.
GuruMick
Yes Zibala, bombing is the answer for everything.
Desert Tortoise
The Houthis are not confining their attacks to ships that are either heading to Israel or that loaded out of an Israeli port. Many of the ships they have attacked have no connection to Israel. That is a big problem and not just for the US. The Red Sea and Suez Canal are a vital maritime highway. What the Houthis are doing is like some group standing on the side of an LA freeway publicly claiming they are only shooting at trucks belonging to one company when in fact they are shooting indiscriminately at all passing trucks.