Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim two attacks in the Gulf of Aden

JERUSALEM (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Thursday claimed responsibility for two missile attacks in the Gulf of Aden against two Panama-flagged container ships that caused no damage. Meanwhile, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader has again threatened that Tehran could build a nuclear weapon if it chooses to acquire atomic weapons.

Comments from Yemeni military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree and former Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi come as Hamas allies continue to pressure Israel over its ongoing war against the militant group in the Gaza Strip.

The Houthis insist their assaults on shipping through the crucial waterway leading to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea will continue as long as the war continues. Meanwhile, Iran has already launched an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel amid the war, highlighting a years-long shadow conflict between the two nations.

Saree, in a pre-recorded statement, claimed responsibility for attacks on the MSC Diego and the MSC Gina. The Joint Maritime Information Center, a U.S.-led coalition of countries operating in the Middle East, said both missile attacks took place early Tuesday.

“Neither was injured and all crew on board are safe,” the center said. “The ships were last reported en route to the next port of call.”

The center added that the ships were “likely targeted because of their suspected affiliation with Israel.”

Both ships operated for Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Co., which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Saree did not explain why it took the rebels two days to claim responsibility for the attacks. He also claimed that the Houthis had targeted the MSC Vittoria, another container ship, in the Indian Ocean. However, no attacks on this ship have been reported or recognized by any authority.

The Houthis say their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are aimed at pressuring Israel to end its war against Hamas in Gaza, which killed more than 34,000 Palestinians there, according to local health authorities. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.

The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, has seized one ship and sunk another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration. Shipping via the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined due to the threat.

Furthermore, on Thursday, the official Iranian news agency IRNA repeated the remarks made by Kharrazi, former foreign minister of reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

Speaking to the Al Jazeera news network in an interview that does not appear to have been immediately broadcast, Kharrazi elaborated on the atomic bomb threat he had made on the channel in 2022, amid tensions with West over the tattered 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

“If Iran’s existence is threatened, we will have to change our nuclear doctrine,” Kharrazi said, according to IRNA. “Recently, military officials also announced that if Israel wants to attack nuclear facilities, it is possible and imaginable to revise Iran’s nuclear doctrine and policy and deviate from the considerations of the previous statement.”

Tensions have increased between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency since 2018, when then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from Tehran’s nuclear deal. Since then, Iran has abandoned all limits on its program and is enriching uranium to 60% purity, close to 90% weapons-grade.

Meanwhile, tensions between Iran and Israel have reached a new high. Tehran launched a drone and missile attack on Israel last month After Israel’s apparent attack on Iranian consular building in Syria killed two Iranian generals and others.

The Iranian city of Isfahan would then have been under Israeli fire in recent weeks, although surrounded by sensitive nuclear sites.

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Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.