Free Republic

American forces have been placed on "high alert" as of Friday, in anticipation of a possible attack by Iranian forces on either U.S. or Israeli assets in the Middle East. The attack, if it happens, is expected to come as soon as next week.Senior US officials currently believe that an attack by Iran is “inevitable” – a view shared by their Israeli counterparts, that official said. The two governments are furiously working to get in position ahead of what is to come, as they anticipate that Iran’s attack could unfold in a number of different ways – and that both...

The Israeli Air Force carried out airstrikes in the predawn hours of Tuesday morning in eastern Syria, targeting Iranian assets and operatives involved in a recent plot to smuggle advanced arms to West Bank terrorists, The Times of Israel has learned. More than 15 people were reportedly killed in the strikes in the Deir Ezzor and al-Bukamal areas, close to Syria’s border with Iraq. The strikes targeted assets belonging to Iran’s Unit 4000, the Special Operations Division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Intelligence Organization, and the special operations unit of the IRGC’s Quds Force in Syria, known as Unit...

The major disruption caused by Yemeni Houthis in the Red Sea is hardly the only trouble spot in the world’s increasingly dangerous seas. An Indian navy warship has intercepted a hijacked cargo ship in the Indian Ocean, safely rescued all 17 crew members, and detained all 35 Somali pirates. The Indian navy vessel INS Kolkata came to the rescue of the Bulgarian ship MV Ruen, which was hijacked by pirates back on December 14, 2023. The operation lasted no less than 40 hours. The hijacking of the Ruen was the first successful action by Somali pirates in the past six...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim to have a new, hypersonic missile in their arsenal, Russia’s state media reported Thursday, potentially raising the stakes in their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways against the backdrop of Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The report by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited an unidentified official but provided no evidence for the claim. It comes as Moscow maintains an aggressively counter-Western foreign policy amid its grinding war on Ukraine.

March 9, 2024 Release Number 20240309 – 02 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TAMPA, Fla. – Following further engagements through the morning, U.S. and Coalition forces downed a total of at least 28 uncrewed aerial vehicles between 4:00 a.m. and 8:20 a.m. (Sanaa time) on March 9. No U.S. or Coalition Navy vessels were damaged in the attack and there were also no reports by commercial ships of damage.

Three sailors have died and others have been injured after a Houthi missile attack on a ship in the Gulf of Aden, US officials have said – the first fatalities of crew of commercial shipping since the Houthis began launching strikes at ships in waters off Yemen last year. The officials told US news agencies that the crew of the MV True Confidence had abandoned ship after the attack, which was claimed by the Houthis. The British embassy in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, posted on X: “At least two innocent sailors have died. This was the sad but inevitable consequence...

An attack by Yemeni Houthi rebels on a Belize-flagged ship earlier this month caused an 18-mile (29-kilometer) oil slick, the U.S. military said Saturday. It also warned of the danger of a spill from the vessel’s cargo of fertilizer. The Rubymar, a British-registered, Lebanese-operated cargo vessel, was attacked on Feb. 18 while sailing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, U.S. Central Command said. The missile attack forced the crew to abandon the vessel, which had been on its way to Bulgaria after leaving Khorfakkan in the United Arab Emirates. It was...

"The Middle East looks set for a path of escalation on multiple fronts as Israeli forces close in on what is left of southern Gaza, and as Yemen’s Houthi rebels launch their most damaging strike yet on a ship in the Red Sea.The crew of the British-owned, Belize-flagged bulk carrier MV Rubymar were forced to abandon ship in the Gulf of Aden on Monday, receiving help from a nearby merchant vessel and coalition warship to reach a nearby port after “two anti-ship ballistic missiles were launched from Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist-controlled areas of Yemen,” according to U.S. Central Command." (snip) Twenty-six...

US forces operating in the Arabian Sea have seized a massive arsenal of Iranian weapons that were bound for Houthi rebels in Yemen, the latest indication that Tehran plans to prolong the conflict in the region by supplying the terror group. Photos posted online by CENTCOM, the United States command in the Middle East, show a United States Coast Guard ship beside a rusty skiff vessel on January 28. Another photo showed the cache of contraband that was found on board. The weaponry included materials necessary for ballistic missiles, anti tank rockets and explosives as well as communication equipment.

This product provides a visual comparison of Iranian missiles and weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and those displayed and employed by Houthi forces in Yemen to attack civilian infrastructure across the region. Photographs of weapons displayed and fired by Iran and the Houthis, as well as those illegally smuggled aboard boats from Iran, strongly suggest their Iranian origin. Iranian aid has enabled the Houthis to initiate a campaign of missile and UAV attacks against commercial ships in the Red Sea since November 2023. As of mid-December 2023, several of the largest global shipping firms had suspended transit through the Red...

A Houthi delegation discussed on Thursday during a rare visit to Moscow "the need to increase efforts to pressure" the United States and Israel to end the Gaza war, a spokesman for the Yemeni rebels said. Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdel Salam met at the head of a rebel delegation with Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov to discuss the ongoing conflict in Gaza, he said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. -snip- Abdel Salam said the meeting with Bogdanov discussed the US and British strikes on the Houthis, affirming that it was more pressing for the United States to...

Yemen’s Houthi delegation meets in Moscow with the Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov, where they discussed the situation in the region as well as the importance of intensifying efforts to pressure the United States and Israel to stop war in the Gaza Strip, the Houthi top negotiator says on messaging platform X.

Britain’s warships cannot attack Houthi targets on land because they lack the firepower, in a situation described by former defence chiefs as a “scandal”. None of the Royal Navy’s destroyers or frigates have the ability to fire missiles at targets on land, leaving the US to carry out the majority of strikes on Houthi targets with support from RAF planes based 1,500 miles away. A British defence source said HMS Diamond, the destroyer stationed in the Red Sea, had not joined retaliatory strikes on Houthi targets because it did not have “the capability to fire to land targets”. The Ministry...

A Houthi missile shot and ignited an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden, forcing a crew on the commercial ship into life boats. The attack appears to have caused the most serious damage to any of the ships hit by Houthi missiles since the Israel-Hamas war started.

Two US-flagged container ships under the protection of the US Navy were forced to retreat from a passage of the Red Sea after coming under fire from Houthi terrorists on Wednesday. The US-flagged container ships Maersk Detroit and Maersk Chesapeake were supposed to enter the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and transit the Red Sea under the protection of the US Navy. The US Navy has done this once before. On January 10, a convoy of four US-flagged ships carrying military cargo passed through the Red Sea. It came under a complex attack of 18 suicide drones, two anti-ship cruise missiles, and...

What this means is that the strikes against Yemen, of which there have been several over the past month, have now entered a new phase. The US and UK armed forces carried out airstrikes on eight sites in Yemen overnight between January 22 and 23. The strikes were an important symbol of the decision by the US and allied countries to show that they mean business when it comes to stopping Iranian-backed Houthi aggression. The Houthis have sought to blockade the Red Sea while allowing Russian and Chinese-linked ships to pass. Freedom of navigation is a key to global trade...

----When the arenas are in flames, Iran’s resources must be taxed in dealing with them all. Can Iran maintain the same tempo in each arena?---- The answer is no. The Houthi attacks on the US Navy represents a surrogate that is out of control. Houthi bravado resulted in going a ship or two, too far. The Iranian concept of limited attacks to inhibit shipping via the Suez canal was wrecked by Houthi extension of the concept to include attacks on all shipping and the US Navy. In Lebanon, the Hezbollah efforts are half hearted and ineffectual. Iran is shown to...

The Indian Navy saved the crew of a U.S. ship in the Gulf of Aden after an attack by the Houthi group from Yemen. The Red Sea escalation is caused by continued Houthi attacks on trade ships, provoking disruptions in sea routes and affecting global trade, Reuters and U.S. News report. The attack on the Genco Picardy happened late on Wednesday, prompting the U.S. military to respond with strikes on 14 Houthi missiles. This incident is part of a series of attacks by the Houthis, which has been targeting ships in and around the Red Sea since November.

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...

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...