Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said that the move, which will impose harsher economic penalties than the Biden administration had applied to the Houthis, was “an excuse to apply anti-human sanctions against the Yemeni people” (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
The Biden administration revoked the designation on 16 February 2021. “It is the policy of the United States to cooperate with its regional partners to eliminate Ansar Allah’s capabilities and operations, deprive it of resources, and thereby end its attacks on US personnel and civilians, US partners, and maritime shipping in the Red Sea,” said the White House statement (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
The vice president of Yemen's U.N.-recognised government on Tuesday welcomed Donald Trump's return as U.S. president, saying it was a decisive turning point to curb the Iran-backed Houthis, who he said threaten regional stability and maritime security. Aidarous al-Zubaidi told Reuters that Trump's strong leadership and willingness to employ military strength were in sharp contrast to the Biden administration, which he said had allowed the Houthis to consolidate power, bolster their military capabilities and extend their reach beyond Yemen (Read more at MSN).
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning Yemen-based Yemen Kuwait Bank for Trade and Investment Y.S.C (Yemen Kuwait Bank) for its financial support to Ansarallah, commonly known as the Houthis. The designation builds on previous Treasury sanctions that have targeted Houthi-affiliated exchange houses and international finance networks (Read more at U.S. Department of the Treasury).
Huthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam called the strikes "an American aggression" and "a blatant violation of the sovereignty of an independent state and a blatant support for Israel." (Read more at Tribune)
The spokesman of the armed forces of the Houthi movement, officially known as Ansar Allah said that the drone was shot down while it was carrying out missions in the Bayda governorate, an area located between the cities of Sanaa and Aden. He added that the drone was shot down using a "locally-made surface-to-air missile". With each drone costing approximately $31m, that would mean that the total cost of the downed drones is more than $400m (Read more at Middle East Eye).
U.S. airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen will continue as long as the specially designated global terrorist group continues to pose a threat to Israel and international shipping, a White House adviser said. John Kirby, the White House national security communications advisor, said that the focus is on undermining the Houthis’ ability to launch attacks in the Red Sea (Read more at JNS).
An advanced U.S. military anti-missile system was used in Israel to try to intercept a projectile for the first time since President Joe Biden placed the system in Israel in October (Read more at Reuters).
The attack targeted the September 21 Park in the Ma'ain district of Sanaa. The broadcaster, however, didn't provide details about injuries or damage from the strike. There was no immediate comment from Washington or London on the report. The attack came one day after Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes on Sanaa and the coastal province of Al-Hudaydah in western Yemen (Read more at Anadolu Ajansı).
An F/A-18 Super Hornet was forced to take “evasive maneuvers” after an SM-2 missile fired from the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg passed within 100 feet (30 meters) of the aircraft (Read more at Defense Post).
Houthi Supreme Political Council Member Mohammed Ali al-Houthi issued a stark warning to Washington in a video on X. "We caution Americans against targeting Yemen. If they do not stop, we will strike US interests in the region, ignoring any red lines," said al-Houthi. "Either Israel’s attacks on Gaza and Yemen will cease, or we will target sensitive American assets to deliver our message." (Read more at Anadolu Ajansı)
The developments came hours after a rocket from Yemen struck Tel Aviv, prompting US air strikes in Houthi-controlled territory, which it claims were in response to attacks on US Navy ships and commercial vessels. Two US Navy pilots ejected safely after their F/A-18 fighter jet was downed (Read more at TRTWorld).
During the operation, American forces also shot down multiple Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile over the Red Sea. The US attack on Sanaa came the same day that a Houthi missile struck Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv, wounding 16 people in the second such strike in days (Read more at Defense Post).
Given that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned this week the Houthis that they would pay a heavy price, a reporter asked the Pentagon if it assesses that Israel might target the Yemen-based group next, after Hezbollah and Hamas. “I won’t speak for Israel in terms of its operations. They certainly have a right to defend themselves, and as you know, the Houthis have launched missiles and drones toward Israel,” Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the U.S. Defense Department press secretary, told a reporter at the Pentagon’s Dec. 19 press briefing (Read more at JNS).
Group used facility to coordinate its operations, including recent attacks on US Navy warships and merchant vessels, says CENTCOM (Read more at Anadolu Ajansı).
The Pentagon is also considering redesignating Iranian-backed Houthis as a terrorist group. Tim Lenderking, the US special envoy for Yemen, last week visited Djibouti where the UN Verification and Inspection Mission for Yemen (UNVIM) is based on the opposite side of the Red Sea. UNVIM’s chief focus is on inspecting ships for armaments entering Houthi-controlled Red Sea ports (Read more at Guardian).
For the second time in 10 days, the U.S. military said it defeated attacks by Houthi militia. Destroyers USS Stockdale and USS O’Kane turned back a range of Houthi missiles and drones Dec. 9-10 in the Gulf of Aden (Read more at Freight Waves).
"Iran has never been weaker," Michael Doran wrote. "It’s a puffer fish. There’s no reason why the U.S. must tolerate these attacks." U.S. Central Command stated that the U.S. Navy destroyers USS Stockdale and USS O’Kane “successfully defeated a range of Houthi-launched weapons while transiting the Gulf of Aden,” on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 (Read more at JNS).
Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted two US destroyers with drones and missiles as they transited the Bab al-Mandab Strait, but the warships defeated the attacks, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Also, a claim from the Houthis that they also attacked the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is not accurate (Read more at Defense Post).
The facilities contained various weapons used to target military and civilian vessels navigating international waters throughout the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, according to information provided by the Pentagon (Read more at Arabnews).
It was through access and overflight for US aircraft in northern Australia. An Australian official said the "support is consistent with our long-standing alliance commitment and close cooperation, demonstrating the interoperability of our militaries" (Read more at ABC)
The strikes hit “hardened” underground facilities used to store weapons components of the kind used by the Houthis to target civilian and military vessels in the region, Austin said. “This was a unique demonstration of the United States’ ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened or fortified,” Austin added (Read more at Aljazeera).
The targets included “Houthi offensive military capabilities.” U.S. officials earlier told The Associated Press that U.S. military aircraft and warships bombed Houthi strongholds at roughly five locations. Houthi media said the strikes hit Yemen’s capital Sanaa, the airport in Hodeida, the south of Dhamar city and the southeast of al-Bayda province — the latter of which has several Houthi military outposts (Read more at The Hill).
We carried out a qualitative military operation targeting three hostile American warships in the Red Sea that were supporting and backing the Israeli enemy," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV. The three American destroyers were "directly hit," Sarea said, describing the attacks as the "largest" since November last year (Read more at Xinhua).
A US MQ-9 Reaper drone crashed near Yemen, the Pentagon said Tuesday, after Houthis claimed to have downed several of the aircraft in recent days. The Houthis claimed Tuesday that they had shot down three MQ-9s over the past week — a figure Ryder described as “too high.” The Pentagon spokesman said he could not provide a specific number for security reasons, but that the Houthis’ figure “is not accurate.” (Read more at Defense Post)
"There is always communication after every operation we conduct," Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi movement's political bureau, told Al Jazeera Mubasher TV. "These calls are based on either threats or presenting some temptations, but they have given up to achieve any accomplishment in that direction." He added, "the calls after attacks included some from the U.S. and the United Kingdom indirectly through mediators and that the threats included direct U.S. military intervention against countries that intervene militarily "in support of Gaza." The Houthis have damaged more than 80 ships in missile and drone attacks since November, sinking two vessels, seizing another and killing at least three crew members (Read more USNews).
At the same time, US Central Command said on Sunday evening that over the past 24 hours, its forces had destroyed three Houthi drones and two missile systems in a Houthi-controlled Yemeni area, all of which were threatening US-led coalition ships and commercial vessels in international shipping lanes. Hodeidah, Yemen’s only major coastal city under Houthi control, has received most of the US and UK strikes since January. Meanwhile, Yemen’s government requested financial assistance from GCC countries on Monday to help shore up its faltering economy, stabilize the currency and pay public employees (Read more at NewArab).
The Houthis have not released footage for the latest attack, but have shown downing US drones with missiles before. This is the eighth drone of this type to be shot down since the start of the war on Gaza. It costs about $30m (Read more at Aljazeera).
Today, 500 hours of flight would cost $20,000,000, at $40,000 per hour. Add submarine deployments and other assets that could be used to counter other US adversaries, such as satellite reconnaissance, and even action short of war costs billions. So, if it’s international shipping, it should be everybody's job (Read more at The National).
The US treasury said the Hezbollah-controlled Talaqi Group used two tankers to ship LPG worth tens of millions of dollars from Iran to China. The US Treasury Department targeted companies, individuals and vessels accused of being involved in the shipment of Iranian commodities, including oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Yemen and the UAE on behalf of a Houthi financial official’s network. It said the revenue from Sa’id al-Jamal’s network helps finance the Houthis’ targeting of shipping in the Red Sea and civilian infrastructure (Read more at Arab Weekly).
The UK and the US struck 13 Houthi targets including a wide range of underground facilities, missile launchers, command and control sites, a Houthi vessel and other facilities,According to Houthi officials, the airstrikes killed at least 16 people and wounded 35 (Read more at Euronews).
Yahya Saree said the drone was targeted with a locally made surface-to-air missile and that videos to support the claim would be released. The Houthis said last Friday they downed another U.S. MQ9 drone over the southeastern province of Maareb (Read more at Reuters).
US deputy ambassador Robert Wood told the UN Security Council that there is extensive evidence that Iran is providing advanced weapons, including ballistic and cruise missiles, to the Houthis in violation of UN sanctions. The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, the US Maritime Administration said late last month. Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a US-led airstrike campaign in Yemen (Read more at IrishExaminer).
Each drone estimated to be worth around $30 million (Read more at Breaking the News)
Yemen’s Armed Forces announced missile and drone attacks on two US vessels and an Israeli ship in the Gulf of Aden on 24 April (Read more at The Cradle).
The Houthis announced the production of a 100-riyal coin to replace damaged 100-riyal banknotes issued by the Sanaa-based central bank. The central bank in Aden described the move as escalatory and the currency as “illegal”. Tim Lenderking, the US envoy to Yemen, said “We need to make this push towards the Yemen peace effort, which will help the humanitarian peace situation and Yemenis rebuild their economy.” (Read more at The National).
Tim Lenderking will meet regional officials to discuss ways to deescalate the crisis and “renew the focus on securing a durable peace for the Yemeni people. “The United States remains firmly committed to supporting a durable peace in Yemen and alleviating the complex humanitarian and economic crises harming the Yemeni people,” the State Department said (Read more at Arabnews).
For more than six weeks, there have been no attacks by Iran-allied militias against U.S. forces in Iraq or Syria. What really shook them up was the targeted killing of the logistics commander in Baghdad. The strike, he says, was proof of exceptionally precise locational intelligence. There are definitely calls for targeted strikes on Houthi leaders in Washington. The U.S. Air Force can do more damage in one hour than the Saudi Air Force can do in eight years (Read more CSMonitor).
During the military drill, an air landing by US and British enemy forces on a Yemeni village was simulated. Popular groups arm themselves to resist the invasion until the arrival of the Yemeni Armed Forces (Read more at The Cradle).
Facing budget caps and new procurement delays, the Navy plans to decommission a total of 13 ships in fiscal year 2025, including ten before the end of their expected service life, for a total overall fleet of 287 ships in fiscal year 2025 (Read more at Stripes).
US forces said they destroyed an underwater drone and nearly 20 ballistic missiles in a series of strikes against Yemen's Houthi group. The US Central Command said in a statement Monday night that the strikes were carried out after the Houthis fired two missiles towards a Singaporean-owned, Liberian-flagged merchant ship called the Pinocchio (Read more at NewArab).
Rather than aim to “de-escalate”—the aim should be for “stability”— a return to peace on just terms. And for decades, maintaining the peace has required the United States’ ability and will to escalate. The United States has the might to crush the Houthis. The United States can convince Iran to end these terror attacks against civilian international shipping (Read more at Providence).
CENTCOM and coalition forces determined that the the "large-scale" drone attack "presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels, US Navy and coalition ships in the region" (Read more NewArab).
Three Houthi drones and a missile fired towards a US destroyer in the Red Sea. There were no injuries or damage to the ship (Read more at The National).
The approximately 21,000 metric tons of ammonium phosphate sulphate fertiliser that the vessel was carrying presents an environmental risk in the Red Sea (Read more at The National).
The Houthi Transport Ministry in Yemen said on Saturday there had been a "glitch" in undersea communication cables in the Red Sea as a result of actions by U.S. and British naval vessels (Read more at USNews).
The testimony from Shapiro and Tim Lenderking, the US envoy for the conflict in Yemen, marked the first congressional testimony by US officials since President Joe Biden ordered strikes against the Houthis last month. This was the most detailed public accounting of the airstrikes so far (Read more at YahooFinance).
The United States has been carrying out near-daily strikes against Houthis. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine said, "Trying to re-establish deterrence, I don't think you're going to do it if the 200 strikes become 400 strikes, 800 strikes, 1,200 strikes." U.S. Special Envoy Tim Lenderking told lawmakers during the hearing that China should be "more engaged" in international efforts to halt the Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping (Read more at AOL).
But it’s not the Houthis who will face the worst of the effects of the designation. The Houthis being placed back on the US “terror” list will cut off the flow of humanitarian to the country (Read more at Aljazeera).
Unmanned surface and subsurface vessels are likely more difficult to detect and destroy than aerial drones and anti-ship missiles. They are adjusting their strategy, apparently because they haven't been successful in striking a U.S. naval vessel. "If one or more of these weapons get through and kill U.S. sailors, Iran should expect to be held directly responsible" ABC News national security and defense analyst Mick Mulroy, a former Pentagon official and CIA agent, said (Read more at ABCNews).
They say the U.N. Security Council never authorized military action against Yemen. Russia says the root cause of the current situation is Israel’s military offensive in Gaza following Hamas’ surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7 (Read more at ABCNews).
Despite a month of U.S.-led airstrikes, Yemen's Houthi rebels remain capable of launching significant attacks. For Washington, “deterrence options” are getting narrower. Houthis and allied tribes in Yemen amount to 20,000 fighters (Read more at ABCNews).
This is the first observed Houthi employment of a UUV since attacks began in October 2023. Centcom identified the anti-ship cruise missiles, unmanned underwater vessel and the unmanned surface vessel in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined they presented an imminent threat to US Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region (Read more at The National).
"It's definitely a high operations tempo," the VAW-123 squadron leader said. "We're on call 24/7." They have minutes, sometimes just seconds, to react to a possible incoming threat. Rear Admiral Marc Miguez tells us that "numerous strikes" on Houthi positions from the Eisenhower and other ships in Carrier Strike Group Two are successfully degrading the Houthis' capabilities to launch their attacks (Read more at ABCNews).
It reverses one of the first foreign policy decisions carried out by President Joe Biden after he took office. The decision to restore only the SDGT designation came after the State Department, USAID and Democrats in Congress objected to reapplying the FTO designation, which critics have said would do more to hinder humanitarian access than the SDGT designation alone (Read more at Al-Monitor).
On Jan. 28, over 200 packages containing medium-range ballistic missile components, explosives, unmanned underwater/surface vehicle (UUV/USV) components, military-grade communication and network equipment, anti-tank guided missile launcher assemblies, and other military components were discovered on board, it said (Link).
