Houthis Threaten International Navigation Twice in 10 Days

Tugboats are seen near a ship in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen. (Reuters)
Tugboats are seen near a ship in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen. (Reuters)
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Houthis Threaten International Navigation Twice in 10 Days

Tugboats are seen near a ship in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen. (Reuters)
Tugboats are seen near a ship in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen. (Reuters)

For the second time in ten days, international maritime navigation in the Red Sea came under direct threat from Yemen’s Houthi militias.

Official reports stated that the militias launched a ballistic missile towards south of Red Sea near al-Mandeb Strait through which a third of the world’s oil carriers pass.

Sources said the missile most likely fell in international waters in the Red Sea.

The missile, launched from Hajjah governorate, is the second threat to the navigation in the Red Sea following the attack on al-Mokha port with a bomb-laden boat.

The attack was deemed by the Saudi-led coalition as a threaten to the international navigation and regional and international security. The coalition added that the threat impeded the arrival of humanitarian and relief aid to the Yemeni people.

Only three months after operation Decisive Storm was launched in 2015, Houthis began targeting navigation in the Red Sea. Back then, the coalition forces took control of an island which the militants made a storage for ready-to-launch missiles.

As the Yemeni army takes control of larger areas of the country, militias are trying to implement a “preemptive” strategy by escalating attacks, whether against Saudi territories or threatening the security of international navigation.

Head of Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saudi Shura Council Zuhair al-Harthi believed that the attempts to impede the navigation is Iran’s main goal through its Houthi affiliates, who had been trained in Lebanon’s Bekaa region under the supervision of the Iran-backed “Hezbollah”.

Harthi informed Asharq Al-Awsat that main goal is to expand Tehran’s presence in the region by destabilizing countries that overlook the Mandeb Strait.

According to his analysis, Iran is using Houthis to destabilize Saudi Arabia’s security through targeting Red Sea navigation.

He underlined the strategic location of Yemen from a geopolitical point of view, noting that it lies south of the largest oil-producing country in the world, overlooks Mandeb Strait and faces the Horn of Africa.

Harthi called on the international community to unite to confront Iran and its continuous attempts to create a chaos in the Red Sea by supporting Houthis pirates. He reiterated that any Iranian control of the Mandeb Strait will affect the international oil supply and create economic turmoil.

He stressed that Iran must be held accountable for its transgressions, adding that it is important for the stability of the region and safety of international navigation.



Iran’s President Criticizes US, West for Supporting Israel, Vows More ‘Severe Responses’

Smoke billows following an explosion in central Tehran on June 15, 2025. (AFP)
Smoke billows following an explosion in central Tehran on June 15, 2025. (AFP)
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Iran’s President Criticizes US, West for Supporting Israel, Vows More ‘Severe Responses’

Smoke billows following an explosion in central Tehran on June 15, 2025. (AFP)
Smoke billows following an explosion in central Tehran on June 15, 2025. (AFP)

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian criticized the United States and some Western countries for supporting Israel's attacks on Iran.

He said that if Israeli attacks continue, Iran's responses "will be more decisive and severe.”

Pezeshkian said that Israel "is not capable of any action without the permission of the US” and that “what we are witnessing today is being done with the direct support of Washington.”

In a report carried on state TV, Pezeshkian said that Iran has never sought war and conflict. “However, just as our armed forces, including the powerful army and Revolutionary Guard, have so far provided appropriate and firm responses, in case of continued hostile actions, the responses will be more decisive and severe.”

Israeli strikes in Iran have killed at least 406 people and wounded another 654, a human rights group said Sunday.

The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists said its figures covered the entirety of Iran.

Iran’s government has not offered any overall casualty figures from Israeli attacks that have decimated its military leadership and targeted its nuclear sites. Individual officials have offered piecemeal figures.

Iran on Sunday said an Israeli strike that killed the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s missile program also took out seven of his trusted deputies, seriously disrupting its command.

Iran previously acknowledged the death of Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Guard’s aerospace division in Friday's strike.

Also killed were Gen. Mahmoud Bagheri, Gen. Davoud Sheikhian, Gen. Mohammad Bagher Taherpour, Gen. Mansour Safarpour, Gen. Masoud Tayyeb, Gen. Khosro Hasani and Gen. Javad Jarsara, the Guard said Sunday.

The Guard did not elaborate on why the men had gathered in one place.