Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels yesterday said they had attacked two Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea, while the US military said it conducted a 12th night of strikes against Iran.The Houthi attack in the Red Sea threatened to open a new front in the war between the US and Iran.US Central Command said its strikes were designed to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters,” as the US pushes to regain control over the Strait of Hormuz and restore the flow of international shipping.
People walk over US and Israeli flags during a rally supporting the Houthis in Sana’a on Wednesday.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that the US would destroy one bridge or power plant each time Iran shoots at a ship in the strait.“From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Houthi militants said they had struck two tankers named Encelia and Layla in the Red Sea, leading to fires on both vessels.That would be the first reported attacks on vessels by the group since it announced a blockade of Saudi Arabian-linked shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait earlier this week in retaliation for the kingdom’s blockade on Yemen and a recent attack on the international airport in Yemen’s rebel-held capital, Sana’a.Bab el-Mandeb, at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is a vital shipping chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.About 12 percent of the world’s trade, including one-quarter of global container traffic, passes through the narrows, moving between Europe and Asia via Egypt’s Suez Canal.Saudi Arabian state media reported that the Encelia was set ablaze by an attack while sailing overnight in the Red Sea, citing an unidentified source from the Saudi Arabian General Authority of Transport.The Saudi Press Agency reported that a strike caused a fire at the bow of the ship, but no casualties.It did not mention the Layla.The UK Maritime Trade Operations Center said it had received a report of a tanker being struck by “an unknown projectile” 70 nautical miles (130km) southwest of al-Shuqaiq, Saudi Arabia, in the Red Sea.It said no casualties had been reported.
