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Report: Iran Spy Ship Helps Houthis Direct Red Sea Attacks

FILE PHOTO: A Houthi fighter stands on the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023. Reuters
FILE PHOTO: A Houthi fighter stands on the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023. Reuters
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Report: Iran Spy Ship Helps Houthis Direct Red Sea Attacks

FILE PHOTO: A Houthi fighter stands on the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023. Reuters
FILE PHOTO: A Houthi fighter stands on the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023. Reuters

Iranian paramilitary forces are providing tracking information that the Houthis in Yemen are using to launch drone and missile attacks on commercial ships passing through the Red Sea, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Houthi group has over the past month attacked merchant vessels sailing through the Red Sea in retaliation for Israel's assault on Gaza, leading some shipping companies to switch routes.

Citing Western and regional security officials, the report said the intelligence is being gathered by an Iranian vessel and then transferred to the Houthis, allowing the Iran-backed militias to target ships that have switched their transponders off.

“The Houthis don’t have the radar technology to target the ships,” an unnamed Western security official told the newspaper. “They need Iranian assistance. Without it, the missiles would just drop in the water.”

The report came as the White House alleged on Friday that Iran was "deeply involved" in planning operations against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and its intelligence was critical to enable the Houthi movement's targeting of maritime vessels.

"We have no reason to believe that Iran is trying to dissuade the Houthis from this reckless behavior, White House national security spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

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UN Envoy to Syria Warns Conflict Not Over

Geir Pedersen, UN Special envoy to Syria, visits Sednaya prison which was known as a slaughterhouse under Syria's Bashar al-Assad rule, after fighters of the ruling Syrian body ousted Bashar al-Assad, in Sednaya, Syria December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
Geir Pedersen, UN Special envoy to Syria, visits Sednaya prison which was known as a slaughterhouse under Syria's Bashar al-Assad rule, after fighters of the ruling Syrian body ousted Bashar al-Assad, in Sednaya, Syria December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
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UN Envoy to Syria Warns Conflict Not Over

Geir Pedersen, UN Special envoy to Syria, visits Sednaya prison which was known as a slaughterhouse under Syria's Bashar al-Assad rule, after fighters of the ruling Syrian body ousted Bashar al-Assad, in Sednaya, Syria December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
Geir Pedersen, UN Special envoy to Syria, visits Sednaya prison which was known as a slaughterhouse under Syria's Bashar al-Assad rule, after fighters of the ruling Syrian body ousted Bashar al-Assad, in Sednaya, Syria December 16, 2024. (Reuters)

Syria's conflict "has not ended" even after the departure of former president Bashar al-Assad, the UN's envoy to the country warned Tuesday, highlighting clashes between Turkish-backed and Kurdish groups in the north.

Geir Pedersen, the UN's special envoy for Syria, also called at the Security Council for Israel to "cease all settlement activity in the occupied Syrian Golan" and said an end to sanctions would be key to assisting Syria.

"There have been significant hostilities in the last two weeks, before a ceasefire was brokered... A five-day ceasefire has now expired and I am seriously concerned about reports of military escalation," he said.

"Such an escalation could be catastrophic."

Pedersen also said he had met with Syria's new de facto leadership following the opposition’s lightning takeover, and toured Sednaya prison's "dungeons" and "torture and execution chambers," operated under Assad's government.

He called for "broad support" for Syria and an end to sanctions to allow for reconstruction of the war-ravaged country.

"Concrete movement on an inclusive political transition will be key in ensuring Syria receives the economic support it needs," Pedersen said.

- 'Attacks on Syria's sovereignty' -

"There is a clear international willingness to engage. The needs are immense and could only be addressed with broad support, including a smooth end to sanctions, appropriate action on designations, too, and full reconstruction."

Western countries are wrestling with their approach to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which spearheaded the takeover of Damascus, and has roots in the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda.

It has largely been designated in the West as a "terrorist" group, despite moderating its rhetoric.

Pedersen noted Israel had conducted more than 350 strikes on Syria following the departure of the former regime, including a major strike on Tartous.

"Such attacks place a battered civilian population at further risk and undermine the prospects of an orderly political transition," he said.

The envoy warned against plans announced by Israel's cabinet to expand settlements inside the Golan, occupied by Israel since 1967 and annexed in 1981.

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a security briefing atop a strategic Syrian peak inside the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights that Israel seized this month.

"Israel must cease all settlement activity in the occupied Syrian Golan, which are illegal. Attacks on Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity must stop," said Pedersen.