US Army Vows to Degrade Houthi Military Capabilities

This handout photo released by the US Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) shows the US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Laboon (DDG 58) and USS Gravely (DDG 107), part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Group (IKECSG), sailing in formation in the Red Sea with the Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour (CVH 550) on June 7, 2024, as part of their mission to support maritime stability and security in the Middle East region. (US Navy / AFP)
This handout photo released by the US Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) shows the US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Laboon (DDG 58) and USS Gravely (DDG 107), part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Group (IKECSG), sailing in formation in the Red Sea with the Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour (CVH 550) on June 7, 2024, as part of their mission to support maritime stability and security in the Middle East region. (US Navy / AFP)
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US Army Vows to Degrade Houthi Military Capabilities

This handout photo released by the US Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) shows the US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Laboon (DDG 58) and USS Gravely (DDG 107), part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Group (IKECSG), sailing in formation in the Red Sea with the Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour (CVH 550) on June 7, 2024, as part of their mission to support maritime stability and security in the Middle East region. (US Navy / AFP)
This handout photo released by the US Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) shows the US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Laboon (DDG 58) and USS Gravely (DDG 107), part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Group (IKECSG), sailing in formation in the Red Sea with the Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour (CVH 550) on June 7, 2024, as part of their mission to support maritime stability and security in the Middle East region. (US Navy / AFP)

A merchant vessel in the Arabian Sea reported an explosion in close proximity to it on Monday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.

UKMTO said the crew was reported safe and the vessel was proceeding to its next port of call.

The Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) later identified the vessel as Liberian-flagged container MSC SARAH V, saying it was attacked by a missile while navigating the Arabian Sea but was not hit. The ship was sailing 246 nautical miles southeast of Yemen's Nishtun.

The ship reported a missile landing in the water approximately 50 meters off the starboard side of the ship, JMIC said.

"The vessel was likely attacked due to perceived Israeli association," JMIC's note added.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militias have been launching drone and missile strikes in shipping lanes since November, saying that are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Israel's war in Gaza.

In dozens of attacks, the Houthis have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least three seafarers.

A Houthi military spokesman said in a statement that the militias used a remote-controlled vessel to make a direct hit against the Transworld Navigator bulk carrier in the Red Sea.

He also claimed that the Houthis attacked the Stolt Sequoia in the Indian Ocean with a number of cruise missiles.

In a statement on Sunday, the US Central Command said this was the fourth time the militias target the Transworld Navigator.

The crew reported minor injuries and moderate damage to the ship, but the vessel has continued underway, it said on the X platform.

"This continued malign and reckless behavior by the Iranian-backed Houthis threatens regional stability and endangers the lives of mariners across the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden," it added.

"CENTCOM will continue to act with partners to hold the Houthis accountable and degrade their military capabilities," it vowed.



Justice or Assassination: Leaders React to Israel's Killing of Nasrallah

An Iraqi volunteer holds a picture of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who has been killed, in Basra, Iraq, on September 27, 2024. (Reuters)
An Iraqi volunteer holds a picture of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who has been killed, in Basra, Iraq, on September 27, 2024. (Reuters)
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Justice or Assassination: Leaders React to Israel's Killing of Nasrallah

An Iraqi volunteer holds a picture of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who has been killed, in Basra, Iraq, on September 27, 2024. (Reuters)
An Iraqi volunteer holds a picture of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who has been killed, in Basra, Iraq, on September 27, 2024. (Reuters)

World leaders warned of potential repercussions on Saturday after Lebanese armed group Hezbollah announced its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air strike on a suburb of Beirut.

The killing of the Iran-backed group's chief has intensified fears of all-out war in the Middle East.

US President Joe Biden welcomed "a measure of justice".

- Iran -

First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref warned Israel that Nasrallah's death would "bring about their destruction", Iran's ISNA news agency quoted him as saying.

The foreign ministry of Iran, which finances and arms Hezbollah, said Nasrallah's work will continue after his death. "His sacred goal will be realized in the liberation of Quds (Jerusalem), God willing," spokesman Nasser Kanani posted on X.

Supreme leader Ali Khamenei announced five days of public mourning.

- United States -

Biden said Nasrallah's death was "a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis and Lebanese civilians".

Washington supports Israel's right to defend itself against "Iranian-supported terrorist groups" and the "defense posture" of US forces in the region would be "further enhanced", Biden added in a statement.

Vice President Kamala Harris said Nasrallah was "a terrorist with American blood on his hands" and said she would "always support Israel´s right to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis."

Leading Republicans in the House of Representatives also welcomed the end of a "reign of bloodshed, oppression, and terror" by "one of the most brutal terrorists on the planet".

- Russia -

Russia's foreign ministry said "we decisively condemn the latest political murder carried out by Israel" and urged it to "immediately cease military action" in Lebanon.

Israel would "bear full responsibility" for the "tragic" consequences the killing could bring to the region, the ministry added in a statement.

- Germany -

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told ARD television that the killing "threatens destabilization for the whole of Lebanon", which "is in no way in Israel's security interest".

- Canada -

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described Nasrallah as "the leader of a terrorist organization that attacked and killed innocent civilians, causing immense suffering across the region".

But he called for more to be done to protect civilians in the conflict, adding: "We urge calm and restraint during this critical time."

- Britain -

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a post on X that he had spoken with the Lebanese premier.

"We agreed on the need for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the bloodshed. A diplomatic solution is the only way to restore security and stability for the Lebanese and Israeli people," he said.

- France -

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot demanded Israel "immediately stop its strikes in Lebanon" and said it was opposed to any ground operation in the country.

France also "calls on other actors, notably Hezbollah and Iran, to abstain from any action that could lead to additional destabilization and regional conflagration", the foreign ministry said in a statement.

- United Nations -

UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was "gravely concerned by the dramatic escalation of events in Beirut in the last 24 hours".

- Hamas -

Palestinian armed group Hamas, whose unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel sparked the devastating war in Gaza that drew in fellow Iran-backed groups including Hezbollah, called Nasrallah's killing "a cowardly terrorist act".

"We condemn in the strongest terms this barbaric Zionist aggression and targeting of residential buildings," Hamas said in a statement.

- Palestinian Authority -

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas offered his "deep condolences" to Lebanon for the deaths of Nasrallah and civilians, who "fell as a result of the brutal Israeli aggression", according to a statement from his office.

- Houthis -

The Iran-backed Yemeni Houthis militias, who have been firing on ships in the Red Sea in solidarity with Hamas, said in a statement that Nasrallah's killing "will increase the flame of sacrifice, the heat of enthusiasm, the strength of resolve" against Israel, with their leader vowing Nasrallah's death "will not be in vain".

- Türkiye -

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country maintains diplomatic relations with Israel but who has been a sharp critic of its offensive in Gaza, said on X that Lebanon was being subjected to a "genocide", without referring directly to Nasrallah.

- Cuba -

In a post on X, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel called the killing a "cowardly targeted assassination" that "seriously threatens regional and global peace and security, for which Israel bears full responsibility with the complicity of the United States."

- Argentina -

Argentine President Javier Milei reposted on X a message from a member of his council of economic advisers, David Epstein, who hailed the killing.

"Israel eliminated one of the greatest contemporary murderers. Responsible, among others, for the cowardly attacks in #ARG," it said. "Today the world is a little freer".

- Venezuela -

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro expressed solidarity with Nasrallah and Lebanon.

"They want to justify it, but to assassinate him, they attacked buildings, housing estates and killed hundreds of people. There's a word for this: crime."