Iran is increasing its naval presence in the waters off Yemen’s southern coast in the wake of cruise missile attacks on warships of the United States and other nations and the U.S. response on Thursday.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday that an Iranian Navy frigate Alvand and logistics support ship Bushehr have been sent to the Gulf of Aden and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait “to protect the country’s trade vessels against piracy in the unsafe zone.”
“The presence of the Iranian fleet in the Gulf of Aden coincides with the US decision to directly get involved in a Saudi-led war against Yemen,” the agency said.
But the news account indicates the ships from Iran’s 44th Fleet don’t plan to linger in the area, saying they will head for waters near Somalia, and then set off for the western coast of South Africa “if the weather holds out.”
On Thursday, the destroyer USS Nitze fired several Tomahawk cruise missiles at radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory inside Yemen, and defense officials believe those sites were destroyed. The strikes were in retaliation for cruise missile attacks against U.S. ships off Yemen on Sunday and Wednesday. No sailors were hurt in those attacks.
