Alborz warship enters Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Iranian media studies a day after Yemen’s Houthis say 10 fighters killed.
Iran’s Alborz warship has entered the Red Sea via the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Iran’s Tasnim information company has reported, at a time of heightened tensions over the globally essential waterway.
“The Alborz destroyer entered the Red Sea … by passing through the Bab al-Mandeb” waterway on the southern tip of the Red Sea, connecting with the Gulf of Aden within the Indian Ocean, the information company mentioned on Monday.
It added that Iran’s naval fleet has been working within the space “to secure shipping lanes, repel pirates, among other purposes since 2009”.
The United States in early December arrange a multinational naval process power for the Red Sea following a flurry of missile and drone assaults by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels on service provider vessels, which led transport corporations to droop passages via the now extremely militarised space.
The Houthis say the assaults have been in solidarity with Palestinians within the besieged Gaza Strip, the place Israel is continuous a months-long bombardment marketing campaign.
According to the International Chamber of Shipping, 12 % of worldwide commerce passes via the Red Sea, which offers a shortcut previous Africa through the Suez Canal.
The Tasnim report comes a day after US Navy helicopters fired on Houthi rebels trying to board a cargo ship off Yemen, with the rebels reporting 10 fighters useless.
It additionally comes after Sayyed Razi Mousavi, one of many prime commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria, was killed in an Israeli air strike outdoors of Damascus final week.
UK threatens ‘direct action’
Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, reporting from Djibouti, mentioned that Iran sending a warship to the area was not a “new” growth.
“From time to time”, there have been Iranian warships working on this space, he mentioned. “These waters are open to Iranian warships, as they’re open to many countries.”
Serdar mentioned “more and more warships” are actually amassing within the area, together with these belonging to the US and Britain.
Separately, Iran’s safety chief, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, held a gathering with prime Houthi negotiator Mohammad Abdulsalam, in line with the state-run information company IRNA.
It is unclear the place or when the assembly took place, however Iranian media quoted Ahmadian as saying Tehran praised the Houthis for supporting Palestinians and standing as much as Israel.
Regional tensions have spiked for the reason that begin of Israel’s assault on Gaza following the October 7 Hamas assaults.
On Monday, Britain’s Defence Secretary Grant Shapps mentioned Britain was “willing to take direct action” towards the Houthis “to deter threats to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea”.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron had spoken on Sunday along with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in regards to the Red Sea tensions.
“I made clear that Iran shares responsibility for preventing these attacks,” he mentioned on social media, noting Tehran’s “long-standing support” for the Houthis.
Abdollahian criticised the “double standards” of some Western international locations, in line with an announcement from Iran’s overseas ministry, saying the “Israeli regime cannot be allowed … to set the region on fire” with the Gaza struggle.
The US beforehand accused Iran of being “deeply involved” within the Houthi assaults. Iran has denied such accusations, saying the Houthi rebels have been appearing on their very own.
In 2021, the Alborz repulsed a pirate attack towards two oil tankers within the Gulf of Aden.
And in 2015, it was one in all two Iranian warships despatched to the strait “to ensure the safety of commercial ships” in what was seen on the time as an indication of tensions with Saudi Arabia.
