Houthi Drone Boat Detonates in Red Sea a Day After US Warning

A Houthi drone boat packed with explosives detonated in the Red Sea on Thursday, but failed to cause any damage or casualties, the US Navy said, as the Iran-backed militias in Yemen continued their attacks in defiance of international calls to stop.

The latest attack came one day after 12 countries including the US Britain and Japan issued a joint statement cautioning the Houthis of unspecified "consequences" unless it halts its attacks, in what one US official on Wednesday suggested was a final warning.

The Houthis have launched wave after wave of exploding drones and missiles at commercial vessels since Nov. 19, trying to inflict a cost in what they say is a protest against Israel's military operations in Gaza.

Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads US Naval forces in the Middle East, told reporters on Thursday that the Houthi exploding boat drove out about 50 miles (80 km) into the Red Sea and then detonated in dense shipping lanes.

"It came within a couple of miles of ships operating in the area - merchant ships and US Navy ships - and we all watched as it exploded," Cooper told reporters, adding the target of the attack was not clear.

Cooper said there have now been 25 attacks by the Houthis against merchant vessels transiting the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and added "there are no signs that their irresponsible behavior is abating."

The United States and other countries last month launched Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect civilian vessels, which Cooper said now included contributions from 22 countries. So far, Cooper said US warships and US partners have shot down two cruise missiles, six anti-ship ballistic missiles and 11 drones.

Asked whether Operation Prosperity Guardian might target Houthi positions with strikes to prevent them from attacking ships, Cooper said that the 22-nation coalition was purely defensive in nature.

Security Council

Members of the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to address the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

"There have been further alarming developments in the Red Sea," observed Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia and the Pacific in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations.

Continued Houthi threats to maritime navigation — coupled with the risk of further military escalation — could potentially impact millions in Yemen, the region and the world, he warned.

"No cause or grievance can justify continuation of these attacks against the freedom of navigation," he underscored, calling on all parties to de-escalate tensions to return traffic through the Red Sea to normal and avoid dragging Yemen into regional conflagration.

Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), underlined the importance of ensuring the safety of seafarers, the freedom of navigation and the stability of supply chains.

The shipping lane through the Red Sea accounts for 15 percent of global trade, and approximately 18 shipping companies have already decided to reroute their vessels around South Africa to reduce risks, he added.

He noted that this requires 10 additional days of travel, resulting in higher freight rates and a negative impact on trade.

US deputy ambassador Christopher Lu said the Houthis have carried out more than 20 attacks since Nov. 19 -- and despite losing 10 fighters in a confrontation with US forces after trying unsuccessfully to board a cargo ship on Sunday, the militias announced Wednesday morning they had targeted another container ship.

He stressed to the council that the Houthis have been able to carry out the attacks because Iran has supplied them with money and advanced weapons systems including drones, land attack cruise missiles and ballistic missiles – in violation of UN sanctions.

"We also know that Iran has been deeply involved in planning operations against commercial vessels in the Red Sea," Lu remarked.

He stressed that the United States isn’t seeking a confrontation with Iran, but Tehran has a choice.

"It can continue its current course," Lu said, "or it can withhold its support without which the Houthis would struggle to effectively track and strike commercial vessels navigating shipping lanes through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden."

Lu warned that the Houthi attacks "pose grave implications for maritime security, international shipping and commerce" and it’s vital that the Security Council speak out now on the need to uphold international law and the right to freedom of navigation.

Draft resolution

A US draft resolution circulated to council members after the open meeting would condemn and demand an immediate halt to the Houthi attacks and recognize the right of any country to defend their merchant and naval vessels in accordance with international law.

Without mentioning Iran, the draft would also condemn "the provision of arms and related materiel of all types to the Houthis" in violation of UN resolutions. It would also call for all countries to implement the arms embargo on the Houthis and recall that the UN panel of experts monitoring sanctions "has found many Houthi weapons to be of Iranian origin."

The US draft would underscore "the need to avoid further escalation of the situation."

There was near unanimous condemnation of the Houthi attacks in speeches Wednesday by the 15 council members, and many calls for the militias to release the Galaxy Leader, a Japanese-operated cargo ship with links to an Israeli company that it seized on Nov. 19 along with its crew.

Russia

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called on Houthi leaders to implement that statement and halt attacks, but he stressed that they must be seen as a response to the violence in Gaza "where Israel’s brutal operation has continued for three months now," leading to escalating attacks in the West Bank and along the Israel-Lebanon border.

Russia sees two scenarios for the current Red Sea situation, he remarked.

The favorable one would be for the Security Council to redouble efforts to end the Yemen war and the violence in Gaza, Nebenzia said.

The "catastrophic" scenario is to escalate the use of force in the Red Sea — which he said the US and its allies are calling on the council to do — which risks derailing a settlement of the Yemen conflict and would create conditions "for igniting a new major conflict around at least the Arabian Peninsula" and a wider regional conflict.

The head of ISIS in Iraq and Syria has been killed in Iraq in an operation by members of the Iraqi national intelligence service along with US-led coalition forces, the Iraqi prime minister announced Friday.

“The Iraqis continue their impressive victories over the forces of darkness and terrorism,” Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Abdallah Maki Mosleh al-Rifai, or “Abu Khadija,” was “deputy caliph” of the militant group and as “one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world," the statement said.

A security official said the operation was carried out by an airstrike in Anbar province, in western Iraq. A second official said the operation took place Thursday night but that al-Rifai's death was confirmed Friday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

The announcement came on the same day as the first visit by Syria’s top diplomat to Iraq, during which the two countries pledged to work together to combat ISIS.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein said at a news conference that “there are common challenges facing Syrian and Iraqi society, and especially the terrorists of ISIS.” He said the officials had spoken “in detail about the movements of ISIS, whether on the Syrian-Iraqi border, inside Syria or inside Iraq” during the visit.

Hussein referred to an operations room formed by Syria, Iraq, Türkiye, Jordan and Lebanon at a recent meeting in Amman to confront ISIS, and said it would soon begin work.

The relationship between Iraq and Syria is somewhat fraught after the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Al-Sudani came to power with the support of a coalition of Iran-backed factions, and Tehran was a major backer of Assad.

The current interim president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was previously known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani and fought as an al-Qaeda militant in Iraq after the US invasion of 2003, and later fought against Assad's government in Syria.

But Syrian interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani focused on the historic ties between the two countries.

“Throughout history, Baghdad and Damascus have been the capitals of the Arab and Islamic world, sharing knowledge, culture and economy,” he said.

Strengthening the partnership between the two countries “will not only benefit our peoples, but will also contribute to the stability of the region, making us less dependent on external powers and better able to determine our own destiny,” he said.

The operation and the visit come at a time when Iraqi officials are anxious about an ISIS resurgence in the wake of the fall of Assad in Syria.

While Syria’s new rulers have pursued ISIS cells since taking power, some fear a breakdown in overall security that could allow the group to stage a resurgence.

The US and Iraq announced an agreement last year to wind down the military mission in Iraq of an American-led coalition fighting the ISIS group by September 2025, with US forces departing some bases where they have stationed troops during a two-decade-long military presence in the country.

When the agreement was reached to end the coalition’s mission in Iraq, Iraqi political leaders said the threat of ISIS was under control and they no longer needed Washington’s help to beat back the remaining cells.

But the fall of Assad in December led some to reassess that stance, including members of the Coordination Framework, a coalition of mainly Shiite, Iran-allied political parties that brought al-Sudani to power in late 2022.

Houthi Drone Boat Detonates in Red Sea a Day After US Warning