Statements by the Houthis
Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen announced that they hit a ship and a US aircraft carrier with ballistic and cruise missiles in the Red Sea and the Oman Sea.
Targeted Air and Sea Vehicles
In his speech broadcast on television, Houthis’ Military Spokesperson Yahya Seri stated that they organized two “military operations” in the Red Sea and the Oman Sea to support the oppressed Palestinian people and to respond to the attacks of the USA and England against Yemen. The series noted that in the first “operation”, a ship named “Transworld navigator” was targeted with ballistic missiles in the Arabian Sea. He also stated that the US aircraft carrier Eisenhower was also targeted with ballistic and cruise missiles in the Red Sea.
Houthis’ Counter-Attack Strategy
Noting that they will continue “military operations” until the war in Gaza ends and the blockade is lifted, Seri said that they will not hesitate to target enemy foreign warships in the Red Sea and the Sea of Oman in response to the attacks of the USA and England. In the previous statement made by the Houthis, it was announced that the USA and the UK carried out 4 air strikes on the western province of Hudaydah.
International Reactions
The Houthis, supported by Iran in Yemen, have been seizing commercial ships off the coast of Yemen, which they say are affiliated with Israeli companies, since October 31, 2023, as a reaction to Israel’s attacks in Gaza, and attacking some of them with unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles. The USA announced that a multinational “maritime task force” called “Operation Welfare Guardian” was formed against the Houthi forces with the participation of a group of countries on December 18, 2023, on the grounds that global maritime trade security was endangered. Following the US and UK attacks on the regions under their control in Yemen, the Houthis announced that they would target all ships of these countries.
