UK Overseas Secretary David Cameron says escalating assaults by Iran-backed teams can’t be tolerated.
The USA has introduced that it shot down 4 drones launched by Yemen’s Houthis, as the UK’s prime diplomat branded the insurgent group’s ally Iran a “malign influence”.
The USS Laboon guided-missile destroyer downed the drones as they had been travelling in direction of the vessel and there have been no accidents or injury, US Central Command (CENTCOM) mentioned on Saturday.
The USS Laboon additionally responded to misery calls from a Norwegian-flagged oil tanker and an Indian-flagged crude oil tanker that got here beneath assault.
“These attacks represent the 14th and 15th attacks on commercial shipping by Houthi militants since October 17,” CENTCOM mentioned in a publish on X.
The Houthis additionally fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles into worldwide transport lanes within the Southern Purple Sea however no vessels had been hit within the assaults, CENTCOM mentioned.
Individually, the US Defence Division mentioned {that a} drone launched from Iran struck a Liberia-flagged, Japanese-owned chemical tanker within the Indian Ocean early on Saturday.
No casualties had been reported.
The UK Maritime Commerce Operations company earlier mentioned {that a} drone had exploded close to a vessel within the Bab el-Mandab Strait, off the coast of Yemen.
The Houthis, who management massive components of Yemen, have waged an escalating marketing campaign of drone and missile assaults on industrial transport for the reason that begin of the struggle in Gaza, in what the insurgent group has characterised as a present of assist for Palestinians going through Israeli bombardment.
The US on Tuesday launched a multinational safety drive, dubbed Operation Prosperity Guardian, to guard transport amid escalating assaults within the waterway, one of many world’s busiest commerce routes.
The most recent assaults got here as UK Overseas Secretary David Cameron condemned Iran for supporting the Houthis and different armed teams.
In an interview printed within the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, Cameron mentioned Tehran has been a “thoroughly malign influence in the region and in the world”.
“You’ve got the Houthis, you’ve got Hezbollah, you’ve got the Iranian-backed militias in Iraq that have actually been attacking British and American bases, troops. And, of course, Hamas,” the previous UK prime minister mentioned.
“So you’ve got all of these proxies, and I think it’s incredibly important that, first of all, Iran receives an incredibly clear message that this escalation will not be tolerated.”
Cameron’s remarks comply with claims by the US White Home that Iran has been “deeply involved” in assaults by Houthi rebels on industrial ships within the Purple Sea.
Tehran has acknowledged supporting the Houthis politically however denied arming the group.
Iran’s Deputy Overseas Minister Ali Bagheri on Saturday dismissed the accusations that Tehran has offered the Houthis with weapons and intelligence, saying the insurgent group has its “own tools” and acts “in accordance with its own decisions and capabilities”.
