Houthi armed forces attacked a US ship in the Red Sea

A U.S. official told Al Jazeera that a commercial ship owned by a U.S. company was attacked in territory it controls Houthis In Yemen, it comes hours after Washington put the Houthis back on its terrorist list.

The US official explained to Al Jazeera that the attack hit the ship, noting that the weapons used and potential damage or injuries could not be revealed at this time.

Yemeni shipping sources told Al Jazeera that Ansar Houthis attacked a ship… Red Sea.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations Authority announced that it had received reports of the incident 66 nautical miles southeast of Aden, adding in an advisory note that the captain reported that his vessel had been attacked by a drone in the Gulf of Aden, according to authorities. , he also reported that a fire broke out on the ship, which was later extinguished.

The new attack came just hours after U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced that Washington had reclassified Yemen's Houthis as a “global terrorist organization.”

Sullivan said the classification would take effect within 30 days to give us time to reduce the impact of this decision on the Yemeni people, explaining that Washington would consider lifting the classification if the Houthis stop their attacks in the Red Sea.

cut off supply lines

At the same time, Bloomberg quoted Western officials as saying that the US and British strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen appear to have cut off the main supply line from Iran to them, at least temporarily.

The website also quoted U.S. and British officials as saying that since January 11, no one had attempted to deliver Iranian military supplies to the Houthis through the attacked supply lines.
Another official said the main goal of the attack was to destroy the Houthis' ability to quickly replenish weapons, although they receive weapons through multiple routes, including by land.
The website also reports that some ship insurance companies have begun to avoid insuring war risks for U.S. and British merchant ships sailing in the southern Red Sea.

The EU's plan to send warships to the Red Sea circumvents Spanish obstacles, Politico reported, citing diplomats saying Spain would not block such a mission but would not participate in the operation.

Citing the same source, the website added that EU countries hope to put the plan into action by a meeting of foreign ministers on February 19 at the latest, saying the task will depend on monitoring currently led by France, as proposed by the EU That way. Union Foreign Service.

According to EU diplomatic documents, Politico confirmed that the mission will require at least three anti-aircraft destroyers or frigates to carry out the operation. It is not yet clear which countries will provide these ships.

He added that this would take some time as some EU governments would need to involve their parliaments in the process.