Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said early Thursday they had attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, and the U.S. military said it conducted a 12th night of strikes against Iran as the two countries vie for control of vital shipping lanes.
The Houthi attack in the Red Sea threatened to open a new front in a war that has roiled the global economy, sending prices for fuel and other goods surging across the world. With the standoff in the Gulf deepening, there were no signs of progress in diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
U.S. 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 Americans push to regain control over the Strait of Hormuz and restore the flow of international shipping.
President Donald Trump warned earlier Wednesday that the U.S. would destroy one bridge or power plant each time Iran shoots at a ship in the strait. Both sides have increasingly threatened civilian infrastructure.
International law generally prohibits such attacks unless the infrastructure is being used for military purposes.
“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 social media.
Iran-backed Houthis say they attacked oil tankers
The Houthis said they had struck two tankers named Encelia and Layla in the Red Sea, leading to fires on both vessels. That would be their first reported attack on a vessel since they announced a blockade of Saudi-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, Sanaa.
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. Around 12% of the world’s trade, including a fourth of global container traffic, passes through the narrows, moving between Europe and Asia via Egypt’s Suez Canal.
Saudi 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 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 United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center, UKMTO, said it had received a report of a tanker being struck by “an unknown projectile” 70 nautical miles (80 miles, 130 kilometers) southwest of Al Shuqaiq, Saudi Arabia, in the Red Sea. It said no casualties had been reported.
Both sides dig in over Strait of Hormuz dispute
The continued American airstrikes are occurring as both sides have dug in on their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global energy that remains largely closed. The closure of the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas passed during peacetime, has jolted the world economy with effects far beyond the Middle East. (AP)
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