- Iranian ship suspected of providing intelligence to Houthis returns home.
- The MV Behshad spent several months near Yemen as the Houthis launched attacks.
- Maritime data shows they are close to Iran as Tehran prepares for possible Israeli retaliation.
An Iranian cargo ship suspected of providing targeted information and intelligence to the Houthis for their attacks in the Red Sea appears to have returned home this week.
The return of the MV Behshad to Iran comes as the country prepares for possible Israeli retaliation following Tehran’s unprecedented missile and drone attack on Israel last weekend.
The ship has been at sea for nearly three years and spent several months earlier this year near Yemen. But on Wednesday it was seen sailing in the Gulf of Oman off the coast of Iran, and it passed through the strategic Strait of Hormuz early Thursday, according to ship tracking data reviewed by Business Insider.
The Behshad’s destination is listed as the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas on MarineTraffic.com, and the latest tracking data from Thursday afternoon local time shows the ship is near the city.
Although it left its position near Yemen earlier this month, the Behshad only broadcast its position a few days ago, when it appeared on ship tracking sites off the Iranian coast, according to Bloomberg, who was the first to report on the ship’s movement.
In this photo provided by the Houthi Media Center, fighters take part in a military exercise on March 17, 2024 in Sanaa, Yemen. Houthi movement photo via Getty Images
While lingering in waters near Yemen’s coast, the Behshad is believed to have provided intelligence to the Houthis that allowed them to locate and target commercial vessels in key international shipping lanes, reported NBCNews. The Iranian ship was also reportedly the target of a US cyberattack in early February.
The Houthis, supported and armed by Iran, have for months fired missiles and drones at ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. U.S. Navy warships operating in the region have intercepted many of these threats, although some munitions have managed to hit commercial ships in transit.
Iranian officials have denied any involvement in the Houthi campaign.
Relocating the Behshad to waters closer to home provides a degree of security for the suspected intelligence operative, who might otherwise be the target of Israeli retaliation. An attack on a ship of this kind would not be a first for Israel. In 2021, its forces used a mine to strike an Iranian military ship in the Red Sea.
The redeployment comes just days after Israeli officials pledged to retaliate for last weekend’s Iranian attack.
This undated photograph released by the US military’s Central Command shows what is described as a ship carrying Iranian-made missile components bound for the Houthis in the Arabian Sea. US Central Command via AP
Tehran and its proxies have launched more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel, almost all of which have been shot down by the country and partner forces in the region, including the US military. The massive barrage came days after an Israeli airstrike in Syria that killed several senior Iranian military officials.
Israel’s Western partners have called on the country to show restraint in its response to Iran, warning that any retaliation would risk an all-out military confrontation with Tehran and could plunge the Middle East further into violence.
“We must ask Israel for a moderate response to the Iranian attack. We cannot escalate,” said European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. said THURSDAY. “We cannot move forward step by step, responding louder each time to a regional war.”
“I don’t want to exaggerate,” he said, “but we are on the brink of a regional war in the Middle East, which will send shock waves to the rest of the world, and in particular to Europe.” .
Iranian officials said Tehran would respond to any retaliation.
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