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RAF and US Forces Rain Bombs on Dozens of Iran-Backed Targets Across Yemen:

UK US WARN Iran & BOMB Yemen With Warships/Jets/Subs. Aided by Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands

Iran Seizes Oil Tanker in Gulf of Oman. All Contact With Ship Lost

Rishi Sunak says attacks on international shipping by Houthi rebels 'cannot stand' while Biden hails 'successful' blitz and vows MORE action if needed

The Guardian 12 JAN 2024









RAF Typhoon aircraft takes off to conduct airstrikes against military targets in Yemen.








The RAF launched targeted strikes against Houthi military facilities in response to a series of attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea.










British and American forces rained bombs on Iran-backed rebels in Yemen last night using warships, fighter jets and submarines.


Rishi Sunak insisted the move was in 'self-defence' and said the UK will 'always stand up for freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade'.

President Biden also hailed the 'successful' blitz - which was aided by Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands - and vowed more action if it was needed.



The Ministry of Defence said coalition forces identified key facilities involved in the rebels' targeting of HMS Diamond and US Navy vessels on Tuesday 'and agreed to conduct a carefully coordinated strike to reduce the Houthis' capability to violate international law in this manner'.

Explosions were heard in the capital Sana'a and other major cities including Hodeida and Saada shortly before midnight on an evening where tensions in the Middle East escalated drastically, with US officials admitting they were expecting a response from rebels.

More than a dozen sites were bombed by Western forces, in raids which included submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets.

The four RAF Typhoons used Paveway IV guided bombs to 'conduct precision strikes' on two targets that had been chosen to 'reduce the Houthis' capability to violate international law'. They were assisted by an RAF Voyager refuelling plane.

One of the targets was a launching site for reconnaissance and attack drones in Bani, north-western Yemen. Another was an airfield in Abbs in the same area of Yemen.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said the airstrikes also targeted sites associated with the Houthi's unmanned drone, ballistic and cruise missile, coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities.

Officials said the Houthi rebels, who have carried out a series of attacks in the Red Sea to disrupt shipping, had ignored a 'final warning' as Mr Sunak signed off on the raids during an emergency cabinet meeting last night.

Iran has been involved in 'every phase' of the Houthi attacks in recent months, a US official added.

The rebels' official media said the capital Sana'a, Hodeida and Saada were all targeted and blamed 'American aggression with British participation'.

Mr Sunak said in a statement: 'Despite the repeated warnings from the international community, the Houthis have continued to carry out attacks in the Red Sea, including against UK and US warships just this week.

'This cannot stand. The United Kingdom will always stand up for freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade.

'The Royal Navy continues to patrol the Red Sea as part of the multinational Operation Prosperity Guardian to deter further Houthi aggression, and we urge them to cease their attacks and take steps to de-escalate.'

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps added: 'The threat to innocent lives and global trade has become so great that this action was not only necessary, it was our duty to protect vessels & freedom of navigation.'

The coordinated military assault comes just a week after the White House and a host of partner nations issued a final warning to the Houthis to cease the campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships, which has been in progress since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, or face potential military action.

The warning appeared to have had at least some short-lived impact, as attacks stopped for several days.

A high-ranking Houthi official, Ali al-Qahoum, vowed there would be retaliation.

'The battle will be bigger... and beyond the imagination and expectation of the Americans and the British,' he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Al-Masirah, a Houthi-run satellite news channel, described strikes hitting the Al-Dailami Air Base north of Sanaa, the airport in the port city of the Hodeida, a camp east of Saada, the airport in the city of Taiz and an airport near Hajjah.

The Houthis did not immediately offer any damage or casualty information.

On Tuesday, the Houthi rebels fired their largest barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea, with US and British ships and American fighter jets responding by shooting down 18 drones, two cruise missiles and an anti-ship missile.

On Thursday, the Houthis fired an anti-ship ballistic missile into the Gulf of Aden, which was seen by a commercial ship but did not hit it.

Transit through the Red Sea, from the Suez Canal to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, is a crucial shipping lane for global commerce.

About 12% of the world's trade typically passes through the waterway that separates Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, including oil, natural gas, grain and everything from toys to electronics.

President Biden said last night: 'These strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea—including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history.

'The response of the international community to these reckless attacks has been united and resolute.

'Today's defensive action follows this extensive diplomatic campaign and Houthi rebels' escalating attacks against commercial vessels.

'These targeted strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the world's most critical commercial routes.

'I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.'





Bidens' Blistering Revenge: US Fighter Jets, Destroyers and Subs Fire More Than 100 Precision-Guided Missiles at 60 Houthi Targets

- Including Command Centers, Munitions Depots and Radar Systems - After Tanker Attacks in The Red Sea


















Explosions were reported in Sana'a, Hodeidah governorate, Saada, and Dhamar, Houthi officials confirmed. It's unclear the extent of the damage or any injuries.

Fighter jets, Navy destroyers, submarines and Tomahawk cruise missiles were all used in the blitz. Sites and airfield used to launch drones against ships were hit, according to officials.




At least one submarine was deployed, the US would not confirm exactly which one but Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Florida (SSGN-728) entered the Red Sea in November, USNI News reports. The vessel has capacity for 154 missiles.

Super Hornets from USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) were also deployed, along with Air Force strike fighters originating from a base in the Middle East and according to the outlet.

The US and UK, along with Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, joined together for the attack....














Gulf of Oman Chaos as Oil Tanker Seized by 'Six Military Men' and all Contact With Ship Lost...





An oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman was boarded by "unauthorised" people in military uniforms early this morning and all contact with the ship was lost, an advisory group run by the British military and a private intelligence firm warned.


Suspicion immediately fell on Iran as the ship was once known as the Suez Rajan and had been involved in a yearlong dispute that ultimately saw the U.S. Justice Department seize 1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil on it.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which warns sailors in the Middle East of threats, described receiving a report from the ship's security manager of hearing “unknown voices over the phone” alongside the ship's captain. It said that further efforts to contact the ship had failed and that the men who boarded the vessel wore "black military-style uniforms with black masks."

The British group said the incident began early in the morning in waters between Oman and Iran in an area transited by ships coming in and out of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes. The private intelligence firm Ambrey said that “six military men” boarded the ship, which it identified as the oil tanker St. Nikolas.

It said that the men had covered the surveillance cameras as they boarded. The St. Nikolas is associated with the Greek shipping company Empire Navigation. The Athens-based firm did not immediately respond to the Associated Press request for comment.

The apparent seizure also comes after weeks of attacks by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea, including their largest barrage ever of drones and missiles launched late Tuesday.

That has raised the risk of possible retaliatory strikes by U.S.-led forces now patrolling the vital waterway, especially after a United Nations Security Council vote on Wednesday condemning the Houthis and as American and British officials warned of potential consequences over the attacks.

In September, Empire Navigation pleaded guilty to smuggling sanctioned Iranian crude oil and agreed to pay a $2.4 million fine over a case involving the tanker Suez Rajan, which carried some 1 million barrels of oil. The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, which patrols the Mideast, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident. Iran and Oman did not immediately acknowledge the boarding.

Since the collapse of Iran's nuclear deal, waters around the strait have seen a series of ship seizures by Iran, as well as assaults targeting shipping that the Navy has blamed on Tehran. Iran and the Navy also have had a series of tense encounters in the waterway, though recent attention has been focused on the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen attacking ships in the Red Sea amid Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The United States and its allies also have been seizing Iranian oil cargoes since 2019. That has led to a series of attacks in the Mideast attributed to the Islamic Republic, as well as ship seizures by Iranian military and paramilitary forces that threaten global shipping.






Iran ADMITS It Seizes Oil Tanker in Gulf of Oman in Dispute With US


Iran has said that its forces seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, which was reported earlier in the day to have been boarded by armed men in military uniforms.

“The Navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran seized an American oil tanker in the waters of the Gulf of Oman in accordance with a court order,” the state-run IRNA news agency said.

The seizure also comes after weeks of attacks by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on vessels in the Red Sea.