Nuclear Iran

[Otto Harkaman]

The US Navy is in the thick of the Red Sea fight. But there’s one warship class that’s missing
The Littoral Combat Ship is naval deadweight utterly unsuited to the hard fighting around Yemen

sorry behind paywall but above sums up
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/comme...p-middle-east/

[Jimbuna]

Yemen Houthi rebels fire a missile at a US warship, escalating worst Mideast sea conflict in decades

JERUSALEM (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a missile Friday at a U.S. warship patrolling the Gulf of Aden, forcing it to shoot down the projectile, the U.S. military said Friday.

The attack on the destroyer USS Carney marks a further escalation in the biggest confrontation at sea the U.S. Navy has seen in the Middle East in decades. It represents the first time the Houthis directly targeted a U.S. warship since the rebels began their attacks on shipping in October, a U.S. official said on the condition of anonymity because no authorization had been given to discuss the incident.

That contradicted a statement by the U.S. military’s Central Command, which said the Houthis fired “toward” the Carney. As it has in previous strikes, the Pentagon has said it was difficult to determine what exactly the Houthis were trying to hit.

Ever since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, the U.S. has tried to temper its descriptions of the strikes targeting its bases and warships to try to prevent the conflict from becoming a wider regional war.

Acknowledging Friday’s assault as a direct attack on a U.S. warship is important, said Brad Bowman, a senior director at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

“They’re now finally calling a spade a spade, and saying that, yeah, they’re trying to attack our forces, they’re trying to kill us,” Bowman said.

Tempering the language, while aimed at preventing a wider war, has had the opposite effect of further enabling the Houthis, he said.

In Friday’s attack, an anti-ship ballistic missile came near the USS Carney, an Arleigh-Burke class destroyer that’s been involved in American operations to try and stop the Houthi campaign since November, Central Command said.

“The missile was successfully shot down by USS Carney,” Central Command said. “There were no injuries or damage reported.”

The attack was the latest assault by the rebels in their campaign against ships traveling through the Red Sea and surrounding waters, which has disrupted global trade amid Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels did not immediately acknowledge the attack, though they typically take several hours afterward to claim their assaults.

The U.S. and Britain have launched multiple rounds of airstrikes in the time since targeting Houthi missile depots and launcher sites in Yemen, a country that’s been wracked by conflict since the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.

Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea, saying they were avenging Israel’s offensive in Gaza against Hamas. But they have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a key route for global trade between Asia, the Mideast and Europe.

Since the airstrike campaign began, the rebels now say they’ll target American and British ships as well. On Wednesday, two American-flagged ships carrying cargo for the U.S. Defense and State departments came under attack by the Houthis, forcing an escorting U.S. Navy warship to shoot some of the projectiles down.

The U.S. Navy’s top Mideast commander told the AP on Monday that the Houthi attacks were the worst since the so-called Tanker War of the 1980s. It culminated in a one-day naval battle between Washington and Tehran, and also saw the U.S. Navy accidentally shoot down an Iranian passenger jet, killing 290 people in 1988.
https://apnews.com/article/yemen-hou...7a0d0f2abd5c26

[Otto Harkaman]

British tanker set on fire ‘by Houthi missile strike’


https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/details/9829899

Yemen's Huthi rebels claimed responsibility for a missile strike on a British oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden, setting the vessel on fire.
The missile strike was carried out by Yemeni naval forces and resulted in the burning of the tanker, Marlin Luanda.

https://ground.news/article/british-...-strike_a48d7d

[Otto Harkaman]

[Otto Harkaman]

US carries out 'self-defense' strike against Houthi anti-ship missile: CENTCOM

U.S. Central Command said forces conducted a 'self-defense' strike

"On Jan. 27 at approximately 3:45 a.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Central Command Forces conducted a strike against a Houthi anti-ship missile aimed into the Red Sea and which was prepared to launch," CENTCOM said in a statement.

[Jimbuna]

Fire on British-linked ship put out after Houthi strike in Gulf of Aden

A blaze on a British-linked oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden has been put out after firefighting efforts continued through the night following a strike by Houthi rebels.

The UK and its allies “reserve the right to respond appropriately” following the latest attack claimed by the Iran-backed group, the Government has said.

The Marlin Luanda went up in flames on Friday after Houthi threats to shipping in the region persisted despite joint US-UK strikes against rebel sites in Yemen earlier this week.

The ship sails under the flag of the Marshall Islands but is managed by Oceonix Services Ltd, a company registered in the UK.

It is operated on behalf of Trafigura, a multinational trading giant domiciled in Singapore.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the UK remains “as committed as ever” to protecting freedom of navigation following the strike.

“This intolerable and illegal attack on maritime shipping is the latest on innocent people and global trade,” he said on Saturday.

“It is our duty to protect freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and we remain as committed to that cause as ever.”

Earlier, Trafigura said a fire in the ship’s cargo tank had been extinguished with the help of Indian, US and French Navy vessels and all crew were safe.

“The vessel is now sailing towards a safe harbour. The crew continues to monitor the vessel and cargo closely,” a spokesperson said.

“We would like to recognise the exceptional dedication and bravery of the ship’s master and crew who managed to control the fire in highly difficult circumstances, as well as the essential assistance provided by Indian, United States and French Navy vessels to achieve this outcome.”

It comes after another incident in the region on Friday, in which two missiles were reported to have exploded in the water and “vessel and crew are safe and no damage reported”.

The Yemeni forces claimed on Friday they had targeted a “British oil” vessel following “American-British aggression against our country”.

The Houthis have repeatedly launched attacks on vessels around the Red Sea over Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, although they have frequently targeted ships with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, endangering shipping on a key global trade route.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-b2485907.html

[mapuc]

Houthi get their weapons from Iran, do they get weapons from other countries than Iran ?

Markus

[Jimbuna]

Possibly a variety of sources but mainly Iran.

[Jimbuna]

Three US troops have been killed and 25 injured in a drone attack on a US base in Jordan, near the Syria border.

US President Joe Biden says while facts are still being gathered, the attack was carried out by Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq.

"Today, America's heart is heavy", Biden says, adding "their ultimate sacrifice will never be forgotten by our nation"

It is the first time US soldiers have been killed by strikes in the region after Hamas's 7 October attack on Israel.

[mapuc]

I say Iran is gathering strike points. USA and its allied have reached a point where striking different groups of terrorist isn't enough. I foresee a strike on Iran within the nearest future.

Markus

[Otto Harkaman]

Biden says US 'shall respond' after drone strike kills 3 of its troops in Jordan

[mapuc]

“I am calling on the Biden Administration to strike targets of significance inside Iran, not only as reprisal for the killing of our forces, but as deterrence against future aggression,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said in a statement.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/29/lawm...n-jordan-.html

Markus

[Jimbuna]

US ‘not looking for a war with Iran’ after deadly attack, White House says

Washington said it was “not looking for a war with Iran” on Monday, a day after it blamed Tehran-backed militants for a drone strike that killed three US soldiers and wounded dozens of others.

The attack on a military base in north-east Jordan, near the Syrian border, was the first to kill US troops since the Israel-Hamas war triggered a wave of assaults by Iranian-aligned groups against American forces in the region.

“We are not looking for a war with Iran,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told NBC’s Today Show. But he added: “We’ll keep looking at the options . . . We want these attacks to stop.”

Kirby’s comments came after Iran sought to distance itself from the deadly attack, with both sides appearing keen to avoid a further escalation.

Iran’s foreign ministry labelled any accusation that it was involved in the US troops’ deaths as a “baseless” conspiracy by those “interested in dragging the US into a new conflict in the region to intensify the crisis”.

Tehran’s mission to the UN depicted the strike as part of clashes “between the US army and resistance groups in the region, who reciprocally confront each other”.

Washington has hit targets linked to Iranian-backed militias across the region following more than 160 attacks by militants on US troops in Iraq, Syria and Jordan since October, as well as 30 strikes on international shipping in the Red Sea.

To date it has not struck Iran directly — although, in reference to the deaths of three American service members, Kirby said: “We’re now in different territory.”

Kirby said the US was “still working our way through” attributing responsibility for Sunday’s drone attack. But he added that Washington believed the group involved was supported by Kataib Hizbollah, an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington would “take all necessary actions to defend the US and our troops”.

American forces in Syria and Iraq have come under repeated assault by a newly created group of Iran-backed Iraqi militias known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), which says it is retaliating over Washington’s backing for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Sunday’s attack, which US defence officials said also injured at least 34 service members, struck the Tower 22 outpost near Jordan’s border with Syria, which houses 350 US military personnel as part of the coalition against Isis.

The US has about 2,500 troops in Iraq and about 900 in Syria, where they are deployed to help prevent a resurgence of the jihadist group.

The IRI said on Sunday it used armed drones to attack three military bases with US personnel in Syria, including one across the border from the Tower 22 outpost. It was not clear if that was the attack that killed the three US troops.

Top Republicans in Congress have called for direct strikes on Iran in response.

“Hit Iran now. Hit them hard,” senator Lindsey Graham wrote on X, while senator John Cornyn wrote: “Target Tehran.”

In a posting on his Truth Social network, former president Donald Trump labelled the attack a “horrific and tragic consequence of [President] Joe Biden’s weakness and surrender” but called for no specific action. “We are on the brink of World War 3,” he added.

Jonathan Panikoff, a former senior intelligence official now at the Atlantic Council, said Iran was “probably calculating that the US is reticent to respond and engage in a region-wide conflict”.

He added: “The facts on the ground demonstrate that avoiding the regional conflict is becoming harder regardless of US desires, and the US is now a prime target.”

Oil prices briefly climbed more than 1 per cent in early trading on Monday, before falling back.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, was 0.7 per cent lower at $82.94 a barrel later in the day. The equivalent US benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell 0.9 per cent to trade at $77.29 a barrel.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani accused the US of supporting “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza, as well as attacks against anti-Israel groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, which he said were “exacerbating this cycle of instability”.

Tehran demanded “an immediate ceasefire” that “can pave the way for the return of calm to the region”, he said.

On Monday, Syria accused Israel of launching an air strike targeting areas south of Damascus. Syria’s defence ministry said civilians were killed and injured, without specifying numbers, in a statement published by SANA, the state news agency.

An initial report by SANA said the dead included “Iranian advisers”, but the reference was later removed. Tehran’s ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, dismissed reports of Iranian casualties, saying on X: “In today’s attack . . . no advisory centre of the Islamic Republic of Iran was targeted.”

This month, the US military killed a high-ranking commander of Harakat al-Nujaba, an Iran-backed militia in Iraq. Washington described the action as “self-defence” after the faction conducted attacks on US personnel. Experts believe Harakat al-Nujaba is one of the IRI’s most influential factions.

The US and UK have also been co-ordinating joint strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the Iran-backed rebels’ attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, a critical shipping lane for global trade.

The Houthis have said their attacks on shipping lanes were in response to Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip since it launched its war against Hamas in October.
https://www.ft.com/content/1e24b6c9-...2-5ccaaab7c397

[Jimbuna]

Danish frigate departs for the Red Sea to assist US-led operation

KORSOR NAVAL BASE, Denmark (Reuters) - Denmark on Monday sent a frigate to the Red Sea, where it will participate in a U.S.-led coalition to safeguard commercial traffic against attacks by Yemen's Houthi militants.

The Iran-aligned Houthi have launched waves of exploding drones and missiles at commercial and navy vessels since Nov. 19, in response to Israel's military operations in Gaza.

In response, shipping firms have since December diverted hundreds of vessels around southern Africa's Cape of Good Hope, a journey that takes 10-14 days longer and is more costly than the passage via the Red Sea and Suez Canal.

Denmark, home to shipping company Maersk, is sending the 139-metre Iver Huitfeldt frigate to the area as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian formed last month to protect merchant vessels.
“If you think that the answer to the Houthis is to simply allow them to terrorise free world trade, you are on the wrong track," Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told reporters on board the frigate before it departed the Korsor naval base.

"That is also why we, together with the Americans and the British, are now showing responsibility and sending a signal that we will not tolerate what is happening,” the minister said.

The Houthi rebels last week fired three anti-ship ballistic missiles toward a U.S.-flagged container ship operated by Maersk.

The frigate carries U.S.-made Harpoon anti-ship missiles and ESSM surface-to-air interceptor missiles, but will not be able to defend itself or other ships against ballistic missiles, said head of the Danish Navy Command, Henrik Ryberg.

Denmark has for years planned to buy the more powerful and longer-range SM-2 and SM-6 missiles capable of defending against ballistic missiles but has not got delivery of those yet, he said.

Danish special operation forces, which have previously been used to combat pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, will not participate in this operation, Ryberg said.

The frigate with a crew of around 175 will begin operations in the Red Sea once the Danish Parliament approves a resolution to send the warship into the area, which is expected on Feb. 6.

It will not participate in U.S.-led offensive operations against the Houthis, the minister said.

Danish shipping companies annually send about 2,500 ships through the Red Sea, a route that accounts for about 15% of the world's shipping traffic.

"Right now, we have very few Danish ships sailing through the strait, simply because it is too unsafe. But in order to return, we need more security and that's what the coalition is all about," said Anne Steffensen, head of industry group Danish Shipping.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...f37bd11f&ei=69

[mapuc]

- He has received an enormous amount of criticism already now from a large number of senators who say that Biden is a coward if he does not answer harshly again

https://ekstrabladet-dk.translate.go..._x_tr_pto=wapp

Markus