Houthis Fire Six More Missiles into Red Sea After U.S. Bombing, Vow Attacks Will Escalate

The Iran-backed Houthi terrorists of Yemen launched six more anti-ship missiles into the Red Sea on Tuesday, defying U.S. warnings to halt their attacks on international shipping or face more punitive airstrikes.

Insurgent leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi vowed that attacks would continue and even increase until Israel halts its war against Hamas in Gaza.

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A U.S. official told Voice of America News (VOA) that one of the Houthi missiles was intercepted by U.S. naval forces, while several of the others splashed down in the Red Sea.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said three of the missiles appeared to target a Barbados-flagged, British-owned cargo ship called MV Morning Tide, but none of them struck the vessel.

United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that a projectile flew over the deck of a ship that might have been the Morning Tide and “caused slight damage to the bridge windows,” but the vessel was otherwise unharmed.

The Houthis claimed they attacked two ships in the Red Sea on Tuesday and hit them both. The second ship may have been the Greek-owned Star Nasia, a bulk cargo ship that reported damage from an explosion.

CENTCOM confirmed that missiles targeted Star Nasia, and it suffered “minor damage” from at least one of them. A U.S. Navy ship operating near the cargo vessel intercepted one of the Houthi missiles.

Houthi officials described Star Nasia as an “American” ship. According to shipping trackers, it was carrying a cargo of American coal to India.

CENTCOM said the Houthis also tried launching “kamikaze drone boats” filled with explosives, but a pre-emptive U.S. strike destroyed them.

In a televised speech on Tuesday, Abdul Malik al-Houthi vowed to “escalate more and more” unless the “barbaric and brutal aggression against Gaza” is halted, “along with the siege of the Palestinian people from whom they deny aid and medicine.”

U.S. Special Envoy Tim Lenderking said at a conference on Friday that the U.S. and UK are attempting to create a diplomatic “climbdown” for the Houthis that would help the Red Sea crisis “move away from the kinetic aspect.

Lenderking said British Foreign Secretary David Cameron traveled to Oman with officials from Norway and the United Nations for talks to establish the “climbdown.” He stated that Western officials are increasingly concerned that the Houthi attacks and U.S.-British retaliatory strikes would interfere with vitally needed humanitarian shipments to Yemen and Gaza.

Although the U.S. envoy rejected Houthi claims that their attacks are a proportionate response to the Israeli operation in Gaza, he still called for “serious de-escalation in Gaza.” 

Lenderking also criticized Iran for arming and funding the Houthis and actively helping them select “the more lucrative targets” for their Red Sea attacks.

Iran on Sunday warned the U.S. not to target the MV Behshad, an Iranian ship loitering in the Red Sea that could be providing the Houthis with intelligence for their missile attacks. 

Iran insisted the Behshad is on a mission to “counteract piracy in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden,” but Iran has never been observed conducting any such operations in the region. The Behshad is formally registered as a civilian cargo ship owned by an Iranian company.