Iranian officials warned the United States on Sunday that it could target two Middle Eastern cargo ships suspected of being Iranian spy ships.
The warning came as US and British forces launched airstrikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The Iranian statement referred to the Behshad and Saviz ships, both of which are commercial cargo vessels registered by Tehran-based companies, and which the U.S. Department of Treasury said referred to the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Co., Ltd., as reported by the Associated Press. This is a ship approved as the company’s front line. .
The statement also appears to indicate Tehran’s growing anxiety about US attacks in Iraq, Syria and Yemen targeting Islamic Republic-backed militias.
Iran vows ‘firm response’ to any US attack: ‘No threat will be left unaddressed’
On October 1, 2020, a Planet Labs Inc. satellite photo shows the Iranian cargo ship MV Sabiz floating in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen. On Wednesday, April 7, 2021, Iranian state television confirmed that an Iranian cargo ship believed to be a base for the paramilitary Revolutionary Guards that had been anchored in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen for years had been attacked. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)
The attack, ordered by President Biden, came in response to the killing of three U.S. soldiers and the wounding of dozens of others in Jordan. Since the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip escalated after Hamas’ invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, attacks on U.S. forces and facilities in the Middle East have also increased.
The United States continues to insist that it does not want war in the Middle East and is trying to prevent a war between Hamas and Israel from spreading across the region.
U.S. and coalition forces launched more than two dozen attacks on Houthi-held territory in Yemen on Saturday, destroying deeply buried storage facilities, missile systems, launchers, air defense systems, and more, according to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. They targeted 13 locations with radar.
US and coalition forces launch multiple attacks against Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen
A missile is fired from a warship during a US-led coalition operation against Houthi rebels in Yemen. (U.S. Central Command)
After the attack, the Houthis issued a statement but did not give an assessment of the damage.
“These attacks will not deter the Yemeni army and state from maintaining support for the Palestinian people in the face of Zionist occupation and crimes,” said Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Brig. General Yahya Salih said. “The invaders’ air strikes will not go unanswered.”
The Behshad and Sabiz have been floating in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen for years and are suspected to be spy ships for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards militia.
US retaliatory strikes will prove ‘ineffective’: Kirk Lippold
Iranian missiles on display in a park in Tehran, Iran, on January 20, 2024. Iran has recently been a central player in several overlapping regional conflicts, including bombing Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan, and supporting Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthi movement in Yemen. (Majid Saidi/Getty Images)
In 2017, Saudi Arabia described Sabiz as a naval base and weapons transfer point for the Revolutionary Guards. The ship was manned by men in military uniforms, and Saudi-owned television channels showed the ship covered with what appeared to be machinery bolted to its deck.
Iran’s regular military issued a video statement on Sunday in which a narrator described the two ships as a “floating weapons depot,” according to the Associated Press.
The narrator also reportedly describes Beshad as an auxiliary measure to counter piracy in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, although Iran recently joined the campaign against Somali piracy in the region. What happened is not known, at least not publicly.
US strikes Houthi anti-aircraft missile in Yemen, officials say
A Yemeni coast guard vessel belonging to the Houthi group patrols the sea on January 4, 2024. Their presence disrupts international shipping. (AFP via Getty Images)
Before the U.S. attack, the Beshad sailed south into the Gulf of Aden and is now anchored near a Chinese military base in Djibouti, East Africa.
The video statement ends with an image of a U.S. warship, an American flag, and a warning.
“Those who engage in terrorist activities against Beshad and similar vessels endanger international shipping lanes and security and bear a global responsibility for potential future international risks,” the video said.
U.S. Naval Forces Central Command did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s inquiries about the matter.
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The Sabiz is reportedly in the Indian Ocean near where the United States says Iranian drone strikes are targeting the ship.
The same ship also suffered a hole in its hull in 2021, caused by a mine explosion believed to have been caused by an Israeli attack. The ship eventually returned to port.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
