Yemen’s Houthis have a hypersonic missile, possibly raising stakes in Red Sea crisis

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Report claims Yemen’s Houthis have a hypersonic missile, possibly raising stakes in Red Sea crisis

 

Houthi supporters attend a rally against the U.S. airstrikes on Yemen and the Israeli offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza SAtrip, in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

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Houthi supporters attend a rally against the U.S. airstrikes on Yemen and the Israeli offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza SAtrip, in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

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Houthi supporters attend a rally against the U.S. airstrikes on Yemen and the Israeli offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza SAtrip, in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

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BY JON GAMBRELL

Updated 9:43 PM CET, March 14, 2024

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim to have a new, hypersonic missile in their arsenal, Russia’s state media reported Thursday, potentially raising the stakes in their ongoing attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways against the backdrop of Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The report by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited an unnamed official but provided no evidence for the claim. It comes as Moscow maintains an aggressively counter-Western foreign policy amid its grinding war on Ukraine.

However, the Houthis have for weeks hinted about “surprises” they plan for the battles at sea to counter the United States and its allies, which have so far been able to down any missile or bomb-carrying drone that comes near their warships in Mideast waters.

On Thursday, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the Houthis’ secretive supreme leader, said the rebels will start hitting ships heading toward the Cape of Good Hope in Africa’s southern tip. Until now, the rebels have largely struck ships heading into the Red Sea toward the Suez Canal, and such an escalation would target the longer, alternative route used by some vessels.

Meanwhile, Iran and the U.S. reportedly held indirect talks in Oman, the first in months amid their long-simmering tensions over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program and attacks by its proxies.

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AP AUDIO: Report claims Yemen’s Houthis have a hypersonic missile, possibly raising stakes in Red Sea crisis.

AP correspondent Karen Chammas reports on Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

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Iran, the Houthis’ main benefactor, claims to have a hypersonic missile and has widely armed the rebels with the missiles they now use. Adding a hypersonic missile to their arsenal could pose a more formidable challenge to the air defense systems employed by America and its allies, including Israel.

“The group’s missile forces have successfully tested a missile that is capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 8 and runs on solid fuel,” a military official close to the Houthis said, according to the RIA report. The Houthis “intend to begin manufacturing it for use during attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, as well as against targets in Israel.”

Mach 8 is eight times the speed of sound.

Hypersonic weapons, which fly at speeds higher than Mach 5, could pose crucial challenges to missile defense systems because of their speed and maneuverability.

Ballistic missiles fly on a trajectory in which anti-missile systems like the U.S.-made Patriot can anticipate their path and intercept them. The more irregular the missile’s flight path, such as a hypersonic missile with the ability to change directions, the more difficult it becomes to intercept.

China is believed to be pursuing the weapons, as is America. Russia claims it has already used them.

In Yemen, Abdul Malik al-Houthi boasted that his fighters “continue to expand the effectiveness and scope of our operations to areas and locations the enemy never expects.” He said they would prevent ships “connected to the Israeli enemy even crossing the Indian Ocean ... heading toward the Cape of Good Hope.”

The Houthis have attacked ships since November, saying they want to force Israel to end its offensive in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. The ships targeted by the Houthis, however, have increasingly had little or no connection to Israel, the U.S. or other nations involved in the war. The rebels have also fired missiles toward Israel, though they have largely fallen short or been intercepted.

After seizing Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014, the Houthis ransacked government arsenals, which held Soviet-era Scud missiles and other arms.

As the Saudi-led coalition entered Yemen’s conflict on behalf of its exiled government in 2015, the Houthis’ arsenal was increasingly targeted. Soon — and despite Yemen having no indigenous missile manufacturing infrastructure — newer missiles made their way into rebel hands.

Iran long has denied arming the Houthis, likely because of a yearslong United Nations arms embargo on the rebels. However, the U.S. and its allies have seized multiple arms shipments bound for the rebels in Mideast waters. Weapons experts as well have tied Houthi arms seized on the battlefield back to Iran.

Iran also now claims to have a hypersonic weapon. In June, Iran unveiled its Fattah, or “Conqueror” in Farsi, missile, which it described as being a hypersonic. It described another as being in development.

Iran’s mission to the U.N. did not respond to a request for comment Thursday, nor did the U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, which patrols Mideast waterways.

Israel’s military declined to comment.

Also Thursday, The Financial Times reported that the U.S. and Iran held indirect talks in Oman in January that America hoped would curtail the Red Sea attacks. The last known round of such talks had come last May.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency indirectly acknowledged the talks but insisted they were “merely limited to negotiations on lifting anti-Iran sanctions.”

The U.S. State Department did not deny the January talks took place in a statement to The Associated Press, saying: “We have many channels for passing messages to Iran.”

“Since Oct. 7, all of (the communications) have been focused on raising the full range of threats emanating from Iran and the need for Iran to cease its across-the-board escalation,” it added.

The assaults on shipping have raised the profile of the Houthis, whose Zaydi people ruled a 1,000-year kingdom in Yemen up until 1962. Adding a new weapon increases that cachet and puts more pressure on Israel after a cease-fire deal failed to take hold in Gaza before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Earlier in March, a Houthi missile struck a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden, killing three of its crew members and forcing survivors to abandon the vessel. It marked the first fatal attack by the Houthis on shipping.

Other recent Houthi actions include an attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertilizer, the Rubymar, which later sank after drifting for several days.

A new suspected Houthi attack targeted a ship in the Gulf of Aden on Thursday, but missed the vessel and caused no damage, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.

Fabian Hinz, a missile expert and research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said he wouldn’t be surprised if Iran transferred a new, hypersonic weapon to the Houthis. However, the question is how maneuverable such a weapon would be at hypersonic speeds and whether it could hit moving targets, like ships in the Red Sea.

“I wouldn’t exclude the possibility that the Houthis have some system that has some maneuvering capability to some extent,” Hinz said. “It is also possible for the Iranians to transfer new stuff for the Houthis to test it.”

 

 

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

US held secret talks with Iran over Red Sea attacks Indirect negotiations in Oman aimed to end strikes against shipping by Tehran-backed Houthis A Houthi fighter; the Rubymar is sunk earlier this month in the Red Sea; and the True Confidence is set ablaze last week off Aden © FT montage; AFP/Getty Images/Reuters US held secret talks with Iran over Red Sea attacks on x (opens in a new window) US held secret talks with Iran over Red Sea attacks on facebook (opens in a new window) US held secret talks with Iran over Red Sea attacks on linkedin (opens in a new window) Save current progress 0% Felicia Schwartz in Washington and Andrew England in London 13 HOURS AGO Print this page Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The US has held secret talks with Iran this year in a bid to convince Tehran to use its influence over Yemen’s Houthi movement to end attacks on ships in the Red Sea, according to US and Iranian officials. The indirect negotiations, during which Washington also raised concerns about Iran’s expanding nuclear programme, took place in Oman in January and were the first between the foes in 10 months, the officials said. The US delegation was led by the White House’s Middle East adviser Brett McGurk and its Iran envoy Abram Paley. Iranian deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani, who is also Tehran’s top nuclear negotiator, represented the Islamic republic. Omani officials shuttled between the Iranian and American representatives so they did not speak directly, the officials said. The talks underline how the Biden administration is using diplomatic channels with its foe, alongside military deterrents, in a bid to de-escalate a wave of regional hostilities involving Iranian-backed militant groups that was triggered by the Israel-Hamas war. US officials see an indirect channel with Iran as “a method for raising the full range of threats emanating from Iran”, a person familiar with the matter said. That included conveying “what they need to do in order to prevent a wider conflict, as they claim to want”. US Middle East adviser Brett McGurk, left, and Iran’s deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani © FT Montage/AFP/Getty A second round of negotiations involving McGurk was scheduled for February, but was postponed when he became tied up with US efforts to broker an agreement between Israel and Hamas to halt the war in Gaza and secure the release of Israeli hostages held in the strip, the US officials added. “We have many channels for passing messages to Iran,” a US state department spokesperson said. They declined to provide details “other than to say that, since October 7, all of them have been focused on raising the full range of threats emanating from Iran, and the need for Iran to cease its across-the-board escalation”. The last known talks between US and Iran were also so-called proximity talks last May. Since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel triggered the war, Iran-backed Hizbollah, the Lebanese militant movement, has traded daily cross-border fire with Israel; the Houthis have attacked dozens of ships, including merchant shipping and US naval vessels; and Iranian-aligned Iraqi militias have launched scores of missiles and drones against American forces in Iraq and Syria. A Houthi supporter holds up a mock drone in front of a banner of the group’s leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi during a protest against the US and Israel and in support of Palestinians, in Sana’a, Yemen, earlier this month © Yahya Arhab/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock US officials have repeatedly accused Tehran of supplying the Houthis with drones, missiles and intelligence to conduct their attacks on shipping. Iran acknowledges its political support for the Houthis, who control northern Yemen and have justified their attacks as support for the Palestinians. However, Tehran insists the rebels act independently. “Iran has repeatedly said it only has a form of spiritual influence [over the rebels]. They can’t dictate to the Houthis, but they can negotiate and talk,” an Iranian official said. There have, however, been signs that Tehran has sought to ease tensions with Washington since a drone attack on a US military base on the Jordanian-Syrian border killed three American troops. After US President Joe Biden vowed to hold accountable those behind the attack, Iran withdrew senior commanders of its elite Revolutionary Guards from Syria. Days later, on February 2, American forces carried out a wave of attacks against Iranian-affiliated forces in Syria and Iraq. No attacks have been launched against American bases in Iraq and Syria since February 4, with US officials saying there have been indications that Tehran has worked to rein in the Iraqi militias. The Iranian official said that when Brigadier-General Esmail Ghaani, commander of the Qods force, the wing of the guards responsible for overseas operations, visited Baghdad last month he told the Iraqi militias to “manage their behaviour in a way that will not allow America to engage Iran”. While Iran’s ultimate goal is to drive American forces out of Iraq and Syria, Tehran has made clear it wants to avoid a direct conflict with the US or Israel, and to avoid a full-blown regional war. The Houthis, however, have continued to attack shipping, despite multiple strikes by the US and the UK against their military facilities. The group has launched 99 attacks in the Red Sea and surrounding waters — affecting 15 commercial ships, including four American vessels — since October. US officials acknowledge that military action alone will not be enough to deter the Houthis, and believe that ultimately Tehran will need to pressure the group to curb its activities. Although the Houthis are less ideologically close to Tehran than other militant groups, the relationship has deepened as the movement has become an increasingly important member of the “axis of resistance” backed by Iran. Western powers are also concerned about Iran’s nuclear programme as Tehran continues to enrich uranium at levels close to weapons grade. Recommended News in-depthHouthi movement Houthi militancy drags troubled Yemen back into conflict That had been a focus of the Biden administration before October 7 as it sought to contain the crisis triggered by former president Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran signed with world powers. In September, Tehran and Washington agreed to a prisoner swap, and the US unfroze $6bn of Iran’s oil money, which had been stuck in South Korea. The funds were transferred to an account in Qatar, where their use would be monitored. Alongside that deal, the Biden administration was seeking to agree unwritten de-escalation measures with Tehran, including a cap on its uranium enrichment. But the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war dashed hopes of progress, and Iran has not been able to access the $6bn transferred to Qatar. The US has not frozen the funds, but the process of identifying which foreign companies are cleared to trade humanitarian goods with the republic using the money has stalled, frustrating Tehran, which is facing mounting economic pressures. After the FT broke the news of the talks, Iran’s IRNA state news agency quoted an “informed source” as saying the discussions were limited to the lifting of US sanctions on Tehran.  “The removal of oppressive sanctions has always been on the priority agenda of the Iranian side,” the agency quoted the person as saying. “The Islamic republic of Iran has continued in this field.”

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Houthis: We’ll prevent Israel-linked ships from even passing through Indian Ocean toward Cape of Good Hope

By REUTERSToday, 9:49 pm

 

Abdul Malik al-Houthi gives a video statement on January 11, 2024. (Screen capture/X)

The leader of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis says in a televised speech that Houthis’ operations targeting vessels will prevent Israel-linked ships from even passing through the Indian Ocean towards the Cape of Good Hope.

Around 34 Houthi members have been killed since the militia began to attack shipping lanes in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza war, the Houthis’ leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, adds.

“Our main battle is to prevent ships linked to the Israeli enemy from passing through not only the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, but also the Indian Ocean towards the Cape of Good Hope. This is a major step and we have begun to implement our operations related to it,” al-Houthi says;

Jack Lew at ShebaKeep Watching

The Iran-aligned group has been attacking ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November in what they say is a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians during Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

Around 34 Houthi members have been killed since the group began the attacks, al-Houthi says.