After two missile launches at US ship, US attacks Yemeni Houthi radar center
Just an hour after the second failed missile attack on a US destroyer in the Gulf of Aden, the US fired missiles at parts of radar centers controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi group on the southern coast of Yemen.
The US Department of Defense confirmed the attack on radar centers on the southern coast of Yemen on Wednesday night, October 11. The US attack came just an hour after the second failed missile launch against a US destroyer.
Previously, in response to the missile attack on the American destroyer, the US Secretary of Defense had said that Yemeni rebels should not underestimate America's military power.
On Wednesday evening, Yemen's Houthis fired missiles at a US destroyer in international waters for the second time in a week.
According to Reuters, Yemeni officials said on Wednesday that Houthi forces in the country, which are backed by the Iranian government, fired missiles at the USS Mason, a guided-missile destroyer, for the second time this week, an attack that, like the previous few days, was unsuccessful.
The American destroyer Mason, which was sailing in the waters around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, was also targeted earlier this week by several missiles launched by the Houthis, which fell into the water and did not cause any damage to the destroyer.
In response, the destroyer fired several missiles at the attackers' positions.
The Houthis' renewed attack on the American destroyer has put the US military under pressure to retaliate, an action that would be the first direct US intervention against the Houthis in the Yemeni civil war.
According to the Associated Press, the Pentagon on Tuesday hinted at possible retaliation in response to threats against the American destroyer.
According to Reuters, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, after the Houthis' second attack this week targeting a US destroyer, it would respond to the attacks "at the appropriate time and in an appropriate manner."
Iranian missiles?
While the tension in Bab al-Mandab is moving towards direct American intervention against areas controlled by the Houthi group, after the first missile launch at the American destroyer, a Houthi official told Reuters on Monday that the group had not fired missiles at the American military ship in Yemeni waters.
The Houthis have not yet commented on the second missile launch at the American destroyer, but this is not the first time missiles have been fired at foreign ships from areas under their control.
On October 10, an Emirati ship was fired upon, and unlike the two shots fired at the American destroyer, the missile hit the Emirati ship.
The United Nations condemned the attack on the Emirati ship, calling it a threat to shipping in the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Fox News claimed that the missile fired at the Emirati vessel was "Iranian-made," but in contrast, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman denied this claim, and Bahram Qassemi called it a projection.
Some media outlets believe the missiles fired from the Houthi-controlled coast are a type of Chinese missile, based on which Iran had previously produced a missile called "Noor."
Since the beginning of the tensions in Yemen, Iran and Saudi Arabia have been on opposite sides of the conflict. The Islamic Republic of Iran supports the Shiite Houthi movement, while Saudi Arabia supports the legitimate government of Yemen.
The civil war in Yemen has been accompanied by military intervention by Saudi Arabia and its supporters for the past year. Iran opposes the Saudi attack, while Riyadh says Tehran is responsible for equipping the Houthis.
In recent years, there have been reports of Iran sending weapons to groups such as the Houthis and also Lebanon's Hezbollah, which is close to Israel. Iran tacitly confirms its strategic alliance with these groups, and does not consider their activities to be terrorist, saying they are acting in self-defense.
Source: Voice of America
