Iran 'enabling' Houthi's Red Sea attacks, US says

The US has blamed Iran for enabling a series of attacks claimed by Yemen’s Houthis on commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea over the weekend.

“We have every reason to believe that these attacks … were fully enabled by Iran,” White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said on Monday.

Sullivan added that Iran had supplied the weapons used by the Houthis to launch attacks in the Red Sea.

A US warship also came under attack over the weekend as it moved to defend the commercial shipping vessels.

On Monday, the Pentagon said the Houthis may not have necessarily sought to target the warship, which responded to the attacks by shooting down drones and missiles launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen.

Sullivan said that the US was conferring with allies after the attacks.

The Houthis have warned that they will target Israeli-linked ships, but Sullivan said the US didn’t believe all three vessels were tied to Israel.