THE US has shot down a Houthi Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile and Iranian UAVs in the Gulf of Aden.
It comes as Houthi rebels claim to have struck a US merchant ship in the Red Sea as fears grow over an open war in the Middle East.
US Central command said in a statement: “On January 31 Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired one anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen towards the Gulf of Aden.
“The missile was successfully shot down by the USS Carney.
“At 9.10pm, the USS Carney engaged and shot down three Iranian UAVs in its vicinity. There were no injuries or damage reported.”
Overnight, the Houthi movement said it had blasted a container ship KOI, which it said was US-operated, with “several appropriate naval missiles”.
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The militant group has been attacking cargo ships in the Red Sea in retaliation for Israel’s continued bombardment of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea insisted the Houthis would “not hesitate” to retaliate against “British-American escalation”.
He said: “All American and British ships in the Red and Arabian Seas are legitimate targets for the Yemeni Armed Forces as long as the American-British aggression against our country continues.”
The strikes followed the deaths of three US servicemen in a drone attack in Jordan.
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President Biden is mulling his options on how to respond to the deadly strike.
Following consultations with top advisers at the White House, Biden replied “yes” to reporters when asked if he had decided on how to respond to Sunday’s attack.
He added: “I don’t think we need a wider war in the Middle East. That’s not what I’m looking for.”
The worrying back and forth between Iran and the US comes after Iran raged against America when they were blamed for the deaths.
Iran has denied any direct involvement in Sunday’s attack but they have warned that any response on its territory is crossing a red line that will see them retaliate.
Tehran has also claimed that if an attack hits anywhere on Iranian soil, it will hit back at US assets in the Middle East immediately.
Both nations have reiterated that they’re not looking to spark an open war, but any wrong move could drag the two nations into a direct conflict.
The president will do what he has to do to protect our troops and our facilities and to look after our national security
John Kirby
Biden was considering blitzing naval targets following the deaths of Sgt William Jerome Rivers, 46, Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, recently.
It marked the first US deaths by enemy fire since the start of the Israel-Hamas war – and sparked a major escalation in the crisis.
Dozens more were also injured in the strike near the Syrian border, on January 28.
Still yet to respond to the devastating attacks, a White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said a “tiered approach” may be taken.
He told reporters: “It’s fair for you to expect that we will respond in an appropriate fashion.
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“It is very possible that what you’ll see is a tiered approach here, not just a single action, but essentially multiple actions.
“The president will do what he has to do to protect our troops and our facilities and to look after our national security.”
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