Free Republic

Commanders and advisors from Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are on the ground in Yemen and playing a direct role in Houthi rebel attacks on commercial traffic in the Red Sea. The IRGC has stationed missile and drone trainers and operators in Yemen, as well as personnel providing tactical intelligence support to the Houthis, U.S. and Middle East officials told Semafor. The IRGC, through its overseas Qods Force, has also overseen the transfer to the Houthis of the attack drones, cruise missiles, and medium-range ballistic missiles used in a string of strikes on Red Sea and Israeli targets in...

The U.S. military conducted wide-ranging air strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday, President Trump said. Why it matters: It was the biggest wave of U.S. strikes in Yemen since Trump assumed office. A U.S. official said Saturday's strikes were not a one-off but the start of a series of "relentless" U.S. strikes against the Houthis that are expected to last for days or maybe even weeks. Driving the news: According to local reports in Yemen, numerous explosions took place in Sana'a around 1:30pm ET. Trump said the strikes were aimed at "terrorists' bases, leaders, and missile defenses." Behind...

-snip- Trump had ordered the Pentagon to start preparing military plans against the Houthis after his decision to re-designate them as a terrorist organization several weeks after he assumed office, the U.S. official said. After the Houthis downed a U.S. military drone two weeks ago, the preparations for the strikes accelerated, and in recent days, the main question became about best operational timing for the strikes, according to the U.S. official. Trump approved the attack plan on Friday and on Saturday he gave the final order to carry it out, the U.S. official said. The Trump administration had informed a...

The Houthi rebels in Yemen announced on Tuesday evening that they will attack any ship that violates the group's ban on Israeli vessels passing through the Red and Arabian seas, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden, effective immediately. The "ban on the passage of all Israeli ships" will continue "until the crossings to the Gaza Strip are reopened and aid, food, and medicine are allowed in," said the Houthis’ military spokesperson, Yahya Saree. Earlier on Tuesday evening, Al-Arabiya reported that the United States attacked Houthi radar facilities and weapons storage sites in the port of Al-Hudaydah in...

After delaying for as long as possible, Biden went ahead and finally approved strikes on Houthi targets over the Iranian-backed terror group’s attacks on container ships and US Navy vessels. Biden’s statement took care to emphasize that these were “strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways.” The statement describes them as “targeted strikes” that reportedly hit Houthi radar sites, weapons depots, production facilities and launch systems with the goal of preventing the Houthis from launching attacks on shipping. This sounds sensible, but...

he power of the coronavirus pandemic as a potential global “game changer” may be on full display in the South China Sea. China is stepping up its operations in the international waterway while the U.S. Defense department grapples with over 1,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in its ranks. The pandemic began in Wuhan, China and peaked in the Communist country in February. China’s numbers may reek of skepticism but by all accounts, they have seen the worst of the disease. Barring any 2nd wave of COVID-19, the country is slowly returning to normal with their military unscathed and at full...

China has "intensified" monitoring of foreign vessels in areas it considers Chinese waters, but which internationally are regarded as open ocean, reports Geostrategy-Direct, the global intelligence information service. The effort is part of China's announced goal of extending its sea control further from Chinese shores. The stepped-up surveillance was announced in a 2003 China Maritime Administrative Law Enforcement Bulletin recently published by the State Bureau of Oceanic Administration. The U.S. government last year challenged China's new decree claiming control over a 200-mile economic zone from its coast. The bulletin said its surveillance ships tracked two U.S. Navy vessels that entered...

Two developments in the past few weeks suggest that America’s China policy is on a cusp.The more publicly discussed event involves the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Dewey, which conducted a freedom of navigation operation near Mischief Reef in the Spratlys island group.This is the first freedom of navigation action conducted by the Trump administration. It is the first true freedom of navigation conducted since at least 2012.By contrast, the Obama administration had undertaken a handful of “innocent passage” activities in the South China Sea, which failed to demonstrate the critical issues at stake.The actions carried out in the previous administration...