The Pentagon on Sunday announced that attacks had been carried out on a United States warship as well as commercial vessels stationed in the Middle East, which could be a significant escalation in the ongoing war in the region.
"We're aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available," the Pentagon told Newsweek. The news was first reported by the Associated Press. The Carney is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer.
The warship was not damaged in the attack and there were no injuries reported, according to the AP. The Carney shot down a drone in self defense as it responded to an attack on the Bahamas-flagged carrier Unity Explorer, the AP reported citing a U.S. official. A second drone was also downed by the U.S. response to support the Unity Explorer.
The U.S. has strongly backed its longtime ally Israel in the aftermath of an October 7 attack carried out by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which left some 1,200 dead. Israel's government declared war on Hamas, which is backed by Iran, and has bombarded Gaza, which the group governs, while also cutting off fuel, food and electricity to the densely populated area. More than 15,000 Palestinians have died since the bombing began.
Regional Iranian-backed groups, including the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iraqi militias, have already been involved in the conflict, carrying out attacks on Israel or U.S. forces in the region.
The Houthis claimed credit for strikes in the Red Sea on Sunday, saying they targeted two Israeli ships.
"The targeting operation came after the rejection of the two ships of the warning messages of the Yemeni naval forces," the Yemeni Armed Forces said.
"The Yemeni armed forces continue to prevent Israeli ships from sailing in Red [Sea] and Arab Bahrain until the Israeli aggression on our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip stops," the statement said.
Houthi Brigadier General Yahya Saree said that the attacks came "in support of the Palestinian nation," according to Iranian media. He added, "Today, we are in a decisive fight against the US and the Zionist enemy and we will continue this until attacks on Gaza are stopped."
Newsweek reached out to the White House and the State Department for comment.
The Houthis have repeatedly launched attacks at ships in the Red Sea as well as at Israel since the war broke out with Hamas.
A U.S. military intelligence official who has been briefed on the attacks told Newsweek that the Houthis are trying to target Israeli-owned or connected commercial vessels, referencing statements the group had made on X, formerly Twitter.
The U.S. has backed Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in their war against Yemen's Houthis, which began in 2015. Those tensions cooled in 2023, with dialogue occurring between the Houthis and the Saudis.
Since the Israel's war with Hamas began, many analysts and lawmakers have raised concerns about Iran and its proxies becoming more directly involved—causing the conflict to become regional instead of largely isolated to Israel and Gaza.
A senior official privy to Biden administration's internal discussions regarding Iran told Newsweek that the Pentagon is more "sanguine" about Tehran's desire to escalate the conflict. He pointed out that the Houthis are indeed expressing solidarity with Hamas, and the attacks in the region, though increased, are ongoing and occurred before October 7.
"After the Hamas attack, we rushed tactical assets, mostly fighter jets, to the Middle East as if we were going to fight some conventional war with Iran," the official said. "That concern is over."
The official said that many of those aircraft sent to the Middle East have quietly returned to their home bases, replaced by "strategic" assets like the aircraft carriers, a cruise missile submarine, and B-1 bombers, more signaling deterrence of Iran than readiness for war.
Update 12/3/23, 12:32 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Update 12/3/23, 1:07 p.m. ET: Additional comment from Yahya Saree was added.
Update 12/3/23, 2:55 p.m. ET: More information related to the incident was added.
Update 12/3/23, 3:18 p.m. ET: Comments from U.S. officials were added.
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Jason Lemon is a Weekend Editor at Newsweek based in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to taking on the editor role, Jason's reporting focused on ... Read more
