Iran-Backed Houthis Continue Red Sea Attacks Hitting Oil Tanker
Iran-backed Houthis have claimed responsibility for a missile attack that set a British oil tanker on fire in the Gulf of Aden Friday night local time.
Iran-backed Houthis have claimed responsibility for a missile attack that set a British oil tanker on fire in the Gulf of Aden Friday night local time.
“In vindication of the oppressed Palestinian people, and in response to the American-British aggression against our country, Yemen naval forces targeted the British oil ship (Marlin Luanda) in the Gulf of Aden,” a spokesperson for the group said in a televised statement. “The strike was direct, and resulted in the burning of the vessel, by virtue of Allah.”
Shipping data suggests the Marlin Luanda was heading towards Singapore under the flag of the Marshall Islands. It was hit by a missile 60 nautical miles southeast of Aden in Yemen, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations.
Reports suggest the tanker is carrying Russian naphtha. This fully contradicts Houthi claims that they target vessels bound for Israel of linked to Israeli interests.
This is the most serious Houthi attack since they began their war on ‘Israel-related’ vessels last October, in support of Palestinians in Gaza. That campaign now seems to have broadened to include British or American related vessels –both commercial and military.
Earlier Friday, the Houthis had fired an anti-ship missile toward USS Carney. That missile was successfully shot down, according to the US Central Command.
The Houthis seem adamant to carry on with their attacks in the face of US (and UK) airstrikes that started earlier this month.
Their leader Mohammad Ali al-Houthi posted an open letter to President Joe Biden Friday, claiming that the group’s target was only “Israeli navigation” not international navigation. “Why not tell your people that 4874 ships have crossed the Bab el-Mandeb and Suez Canal back and forth during the Yemeni naval operations,” he asked in a rare English post on X.
This recent attack comes amid reports that China has called on Iran to rein in the Houthis.
"Basically, China says: 'If our interests are harmed in any way, it will impact our business with Tehran. So tell the Houthis to show restraint'," Reuters quoted an Iranian official speaking on condition of anonymity.
China no doubt enjoys some leverage over Iran. It’s unclear, however, if Iranian regime is willing to give up its most important leverage against the US, while it is unable to render any direct assistance to its ally, Hamas, as Israel continues to hammer at the group.
The attack on a British oil tanker suggests that the Houthis don’t mind further escalation of the conflict. This is at odds with the wishes of the United States and its allies. Iran and its Yemeni proxies are playing a game of brinkmanship up to the point of direct confrontation with the US.
The Iranian regime and its regional proxies have been engaged in attacks on the US and its allies almost daily since the start of the Israeli onslaught on Gaza. And the Biden administration has so far not found a way to force a change of course.
Some Biden critics say the airstrikes against Houthis in Yemen is “too little too late”, and that nothing short of a “direct hit” against Iran would bring about his desired outcome.
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Maritime news website Splash247 reported this week that Iran is readying to launch its first drone carrier, the Shahid Bagheri, a converted boxship -- previously called Sarvin -- that has undergone modifications to accommodate a large fleet of long-range drones.
Exclusive Planet Labs satellite images obtained by Splash, following an investigation by TankerTrackers.com, revealed how the 3,280 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) boxship delivered from Hyundai Heavy Industries in the year 2000 went through the reconfiguration at a shipyard west of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.
The Shahid Bagheri, now controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, has added width to its deck and has around 170 meters (about 558 ft) of runway. It can now accommodate the departure and landing of a very large fleet of fixed-wing drones, adding to merchant shipping’s long list of concerns surrounding the security situation in the Middle East.
“We anticipate Iran’s coming drone carrier will eventually wreak havoc against commercial vessels in the Arabian Sea, somewhere halfway to India,” TankerTrackers CEO Samir Madani told Splash.
Iran's foray into drone carrier technology comes as the Islamic Republic has been assisting the Houthis in Yemen in their targeting of merchant vessels since November. Around 35 merchant ships have been targeted by dozens of drones and missiles. One car carrier, the Galaxy Leader, was hijacked, along with 25 crew members.
The Iran-backed Houthis say the campaign aim is to force Israel to end its offensive in Gaza, which followed the October 7 invasion of Israel, when Hamas, another Iran-backed militia, killed 1,200 mostly civilians and took hundreds of hostages.
Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, in charge of operations in the Middle East, said, “What I’ll say is Iran is clearly funding, they’re resourcing, they are supplying and they’re providing training. They’re obviously very directly involved. There’s no secret there.”
While the world seems united to bring back security to the Red Sea shipping, with the US leading a large naval coalition there and China calling on Tehran to rein in its Yemeni proxy, the Islamic Republic has been supplying combat drones to Sudan, which has a 700-kilometer Red Sea coastline.
Through supplying Sudan’s army, Iran is taking sides in a nine-month civil war fueled by armed groups keen for Red Sea access that has displaced millions so far and risks further destabilizing the wider region. Iran’s drones can give an edge to the Sudanese military, which has been losing territory to a paramilitary group allegedly backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Tehran and the Sudanese army re-established diplomatic ties just days after the Hamas attack on Israel after a seven-year hiatus linked to Sudan’s role in a Saudi Arabia-led coalition that fought the Houthis in Yemen.
Iran's support for Sudan, which involves shipments of Mohajer-6 drones capable of air-to-surface precision-guided attacks, may pit Iran against the UAE, which Sudan’s military, UN experts and Western diplomats say backs the Rapid Support Forces. The rival group is now controlling many of the country’s major cities. In addition to Russia, Iran is also providing Mohajer-6 drones to Ethiopia too.
Arming Sudan would enhance Tehran's military sway across the broader Middle East where it backs Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, Lebanon's Hezbollah, Houthis in Yemen, Kata’ib Hezbollah in Iraq, and Ethiopia’s army as well as dozens of other armed groups.
Despite mounds of evidence on the use of Iran’s drones in current conflicts such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Houthis’ destabilizing of the Red Sea, Iran keeps denying its role with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian saying this week that it is a “misconception” that Iran has “the remote control over the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Hamas.” The Red Sea blockade came directly from Iran's Supreme Leader, whose brainchild was to create a network of regional proxies to exert Iranian might.
The Yemeni militia have disrupted the Red Sea with dozens of attacks in solidarity with Gaza militants Hamas since the Palestinian group declared war on Israel on October 7.
Meetings have allegedly taken place in Beijing and Tehran as China aims to protect its own shipping, threatening that if action isn’t taken by Iran to reign in its proxy, business relations between the two nations will be at risk.
"Basically, China says: 'If our interests are harmed in any way, it will impact our business with Tehran. So tell the Houthis to show restraint'," Reuters quoted an Iranian official briefed on the talks, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The attacks, which began in November, have raised the cost of shipping and insurance by disrupting a key trade route between Asia and Europe used widely by ships from China. The passage is responsible for 12 percent of global trade.
For the last decade, China has been Iran’s biggest trading partner, with Chinese oil refiners buying over 90 percent of Iran’s crude exports last year alone, according to Kpler.
While global sanctions weigh heavily on Iran, China has offered a lifeline, gaining huge discounts in the process, though Iran’s oil only accounts for 10 percent of China’s crude imports.
Though the two nations signed a 25-year economic cooperation agreement in 2021, China has not invested as much as was hoped in Tehran, nor engaged in non-oil trade to the extent envisaged.
Iranian state media says Chinese firms have only invested $185 million since then. State media also said last year that Iranian non-oil exports to China fell 68% in the first five months of 2023 while Iran's imports from China rose 40%.
By contrast, Chinese companies committed last year to invest billions in Saudi Arabia after the countries signed a comprehensive strategic partnership in December 2022.
China has been slowly increasing its influence in the region as was seen in last year’s reinstating of ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia after seven years of tensions, China among the nations facilitating the detente.
However, while China holds sway in Tehran, the situation is complex. Tehran risks backlash from its proxies in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, which have also been acting in allegiance with Hamas against both Israeli and US targets since the Gaza war began.
China's ministry of foreign affairs told Reuters: "China is a sincere friend of the countries of the Middle East and is committed to promoting regional security and stability and seeking common development and prosperity."
"We firmly support Middle Eastern countries in strengthening their strategic independence and uniting and collaborating to resolve regional security issues," without directly referring to the talks over the Red Sea passage. Iran's foreign ministry did not comment.
The disruption by the Yemeni militia, trained and backed by Tehran, has triggered military strikes by the US and British forces but it has failed to stem the tide.
According to Reuters, a senior US official said Washington had asked China to use its leverage with Iran to persuade it to restrain the Houthis, including in conversations Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had this month with senior Chinese Communist Party official Liu Jianchao.
Iran denied the claims that China had since expressed concerns but on January 14, China's foreign minister Wang Yi called to end the attacks on civilian ships in the Red Sea, though did not name the Houthis or reference Iran.
On Thursday, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said Iran had not conveyed any message from China about scaling back attacks.
"They will not inform us of such a request, especially since Iran's stated position is to support Yemen. It condemned the American-British strikes on Yemen, and considered Yemen's position honourable and responsible," he told Reuters.
While Tehran claims that the Houthis’ action is independent, in spite of the blockade being called for by Iran’s Supreme Leader himself, the complexity of Iran’s shadow war against Israel and the US continues, and the influence of China yet to be seen.