Iran’s regime is not skipping a beat in its backing of the Houthis in Yemen and other terrorist groups in the region. Even though president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian died in a helicopter crash, the country is moving forward to supply the Houthis with anti-ship ballistic missiles, according to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, which is aligned Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
What is not clear is how Iran would move the missiles to the Houthis, nor how they will launch it, since they do not have many substantial ships in their navy.
The report comes after the Marshall Islands-flagged dry-bulk ship Laax was hit by five missiles fired from Yemen. But the vessel was still able to sail to its destination, and the crew is safe, the ship’s security company, LSS-SAPU, told Reuters on Wednesday.The vessel, which was carrying a cargo of grains, was attacked on Tuesday off the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah. The Houthis said on Wednesday they had targeted six ships, including the Laax.
“The vessel has sustained damage. She is not taking water, she is not tilting, and there are no wounded onboard,” an LSS-SAPU spokesperson said. “Everyone [is] onboard.”The Laax had 23 crew members, comprising Ukrainian, Filipino, and Egyptian nationals, and a security team of three onboard, the spokesperson said. The vessel last reported its position on Tuesday, with a destination of Bandar Imam Khomeini in Iran, LSEG shipping data showed.
The Houthis also launched kamikaze drones, which were downed by US Central Command. “It was determined the systems presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels in the region,” CENTCOM said. “These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US, coalition, and merchant vessels.”This reflects increased Houthi attempts to intimidate ships. The group claimed on Wednesday to have downed a US-made Reaper drone, although this remained unconfirmed as of press time. Photos circulating online, however, appeared to show a large drone had crashed.
A wider attempt
The Iranian claim is part of a wider attempt to show that Tehran will not skip a beat in backing its proxies, which are waging a multifront war around the region. On Monday, Iranian media said Iranian-backed militias in Iraq had targeted the Israeli city with drones.
On Wednesday, Iranian media said Hezbollah had carried out a series of attacks against northern Israel, with a report at IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency) saying the attacks targeted an Israeli “espionage” base in the area of Moshav Shtula. Iranian acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagher Kani on Wednesday said he was going on a tour of “a couple of regional countries concerning the Zionist regime’s crimes in occupied Palestine,” IRNA reported.Iran is seeking to escalate and coordinate attacks around the region. The strategy includes upping attacks against ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, as well as seeking to down drones, mobilize militias in Iraq, and coordinate strategy with Hezbollah and Palestinian terrorist groups in the West Bank and Gaza against Israel.
