By Al-Fassel | 2024-01-22

Although Iran does not acknowledge that it arms and funds the Houthis, the Iranian regime has overtly thrown its full support behind the group, lavishing them with praise for the havoc they are wreaking in the Red Sea.

The Houthis' attacks on international merchant ships have caused massive disruption to global maritime commerce and shipping traffic and have led to an increase in the price of oil and other vital goods.

Yet in a January 16 speech, Iranian leader Ali Khamenei did not mince any words as he lauded the Houthis, described their attacks as "endeavors," and expressed hope that their attacks on ships in the Red Sea continue "until victory."

The Houthis "have truly done a great job," Khamenei said.

A day after Khamenei's speech, a spokesman for the Houthis announced that the group would continue its attacks, and on Friday (January 19) the group claimed to have struck a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Aden.

But the US military said the Houthis failed to hit their target -- M/V Chem Ranger, a Marshall Island-flagged, US-owned, Greek-operated tanker -- in the Thursday night attack with two anti-ship ballistic missiles.

The ship's crew "observed the missiles impact the water near the ship. There were no reported injuries or damage to the ship," the US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

This was the third "Houthi terrorist attack" on commercial shipping vessels in three days, CENTCOM said.

Iran arms the Houthis

Remnants of the arms and drones the Houthis have used in their ongoing barrage of attacks show much of the weaponry is Iranian.

After an earlier raid on a dhow carrying Iranian-made missile parts bound for the Houthis, CENTCOM on January 16 presented new evidence that Iran provides the group with weaponry.

The following day, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he had spoken with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and urged Tehran to stop backing the Houthis in Yemen.

"Iran must cease supplying the Houthis with weapons and intelligence and use its influence to stop Houthi attacks in the Red Sea," Cameron wrote on X.

In early January, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken blamed Iran for the surge in Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, saying the group would not be able to threaten a key global shipping route if not for Tehran's support.

"These attacks have been aided and abetted by Iran with technology equipment, intelligence information, and they are having a real-life impact on people," Blinken said.

Retaliating for the Houthis' attacks, the United States and the United Kingdom in recent days have carried out strikes against Houthi bases in Yemen.

Seizure of lethal aid

US Navy forces on January 11 interdicted a dhow as it transported advanced lethal aid from Iran to resupply Houthi forces in Yemen, CENTCOM said.

US Navy SEALs operating from USS Lewis B. Puller, supported by helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), executed a complex boarding of the dhow near the coast of Somalia in international waters of the Arabian Sea.

Iranian-made ballistic missile and cruise missile components were seized from the vessel, CENTCOM said in a statement.

Seized items include propulsion, guidance and warheads for Houthi medium range ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles, as well as air defense associated components, the statement added.

It said initial analysis indicates these same weapons have been employed by the Houthis to threaten and attack innocent mariners on international merchant ships transiting in the Red Sea.

This seizure of lethal, Iran-supplied advanced conventional weapons to the Houthis was the first since November, when the Houthis began to attack merchant ships.

It also was the first seizure of advanced Iran-manufactured ballistic missile and cruise missile components by the US Navy since November 2019.

Violation of international law

The direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of weapons to the Houthis in Yemen violates United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 2216 and international law.

"It is clear that Iran continues shipment of advanced lethal aid to the Houthis," said CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla.

"This is yet another example of how Iran actively sows instability throughout the region in direct violation of UN Security Resolution 2216 and international law," he said.

"We will continue to work with regional and international partners to expose and interdict these efforts, and ultimately to reestablish freedom of navigation," he added.

US and UK warships and fighter jets on January 9 shot down more than 20 drones and missiles over the Red Sea launched by the Houthis from Yemen in the group's "largest attack" to date.

Cameron said the United Kingdom had "no choice" but to take military action against the Houthis, in response to their attacks on ships in the Red Sea.