The U.S. launched a strike on a Houthi-controlled radar site in Yemen, a day after a U.S.-led coalition launched attacks on Houthi rebel targets in Yemen in an effort to reduce the threat to commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
U.S. Central Command, in a statement late Friday, said the strike against the radar site was conducted by the USS Carney using Tomahawk land attack missiles.
The latest strike “was a follow-on action on a specific military target associated with strikes taken on Jan. 12 designed to degrade the Houthi’s ability to attack maritime vessels, including commercial vessels,” said U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East.
The second, smaller strike took place early Saturday morning Yemen time and was conducted solely by the U.S. The first day of strikes by the U.S.-led coalition included British forces and was supported by Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands. The coalition launched strikes against at least 28 targets.
The attacks by the Houthis have forced international shipping companies to bypass the Red Sea, a route that impacts 15% of global shipping, including oil and liquefied natural gas. Oil prices rose above $80 a barrel for a short time Friday. Brent crude, the international benchmark, closed at $78.32 a barrel, up slightly.
President Biden said Friday the U.S. would take additional military action if the Houthis continued their attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
“I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary,” Biden said.
The Treasury Department said Friday it was issuing sanctions on the “illicit Iranian financial networks that fund the Houthis and facilitate their attacks.” The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said it had designated two companies in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates for shipping Iranian commodities that were financing Iran’s Quds Force and the Houthis. It also labeled four ships they own as sanctioned entities.
A Houthi spokesman, Mohammed Abdul Salam, told The Wall Street Journal that more attacks in the Red Sea were imminent: “This isn’t going to deter us.”
The rebels have said their attacks on shipping lanes were retaliation for Israel’s war in Gaza. The attacks from the Iranian-backed Houthis and the response from the U.S. and its allies were clear indications that the conflict in the Middle East was escalating.
Write to Joe Woelfel at joseph.woelfel@barrons.com
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