Iran’s Houthis attack ship as Hezbollah escalates attacks in north

The Iran-backed Houthis attacked a commercial ship on Monday evening. The attack took place around 15 miles off the coast of Yemen’s Mocha port near the Bab el-Mandeb straits. US Central Command said that a missile attack was carried out against the commercial ship Strinda, a tanker ship. It was “attacked by what is assessed to have been an Anti-Ship Cruise Missile (ASCM) launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen while passing through the Bab-el-Mandeb.’ The ship was damaged and there was a fire on board. The ship called for assistance, and the USS Mason responded.

The Mason is one of several warships in the area. The French also have the Languedoc, which recently downed drones launched from Yemen. CNBC identified the tanker as Norwegian. “The vessel Strinda was headed for Israel when it was ‘targeted with a suitable naval missile” after its crew “refused to respond to the warning,” Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree said on social media on Tuesday.” The Houthis are attempting to blockade Israel by attacking ships bound for Israel in the Red Sea.

The attack comes after a more complex attack last week when three vessels were attacked. US Central Command also commented on that incident, noting that the USS Carney responded to the distress calls. The attacks began in the morning, targeting the Unity Explorer ship. “At approximately 12 p.m., and while in international waters, CARNEY engaged and shot down a UAV launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen. The drone was headed toward Carney although its specific target is not clear. We cannot assess at this time whether the Carney was a target of the UAVs. There was no damage to the US vessel or injuries to personnel,” US Central Command said. Two more attacks followed.

Increased threat on Israel’s northern border

The attack comes amid increased Hezbollah threats. On Monday sirens sounded in the Galilee in Maalot, a city near the northern border, but which has not seen threats for most of the war. On Tuesday sirens sounded in Acre and the IDF also said Tuesday an aerial threat was intercepted. “Following the sirens sounding in the western Galilee, a short while ago, the IAF Aerial Control Unit identified a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory,” the IDF said around 1 p.m. before the sirens sounded in Acre. 

Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister was in Doha on Monday and Iran’s foreign minister spoke with his Russian counterpart. Iran’s Tasnim media reported on Monday about a “conspiracy” by the US and France to push Hezbollah away from Israel’s northern border. It is clear that Iran wants Hezbollah to increase its threats, and not leave the border area. Israel’s Chief of Staff visited the northern border over the weekend; and Israeli leaders have made several comments about the threats in the north in recent days.

On Monday night IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that “during the day, there were exchanges of fire in the north. Shots were fired towards the community of Ma’alot and the IDF responded with a very strong and focused fire toward terror targets in Lebanon. The message is clear – Lebanon, the state of Lebanon, the terrorist organization, terrorist organizations will pay a very heavy price in Lebanon for any attack on civilian communities. We will strike with force and determination and will not allow this firing to continue towards civilians. This is how we will continue to operate in the north and will exact a price from terrorist organizations, especially the Hezbollah terrorist organization, which bears responsibility for this.”

The attacks in the Red Sea and the escalation by Houthis may be a coincidence and not directly coordinated by Iran. However, the incidents clearly indicate an escalation in various arenas. Iran’s goal is to connect these arenas to create threats against Israel on multiple fronts. Incidents in northern Israel occurred starting at eleven in the afternoon and continued through the afternoon.

Seth Frantzman is the author of Drone Wars: Pioneers, Killing Machine, Artificial Intelligence and the Battle for the Future (Bombardier 2021) and an adjunct fellow at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies.