Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim to have carried out two attacks in the Gulf of Aden, as an Iranian official renews his nuclear bomb threats

JERUSALEM (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility Thursday for two rocket attacks in the Gulf of Aden on two Panama-flagged container ships that caused no damage. Meanwhile, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader once again threatened that Tehran could build a nuclear weapon if it decided to pursue nuclear armament.

The comments from Yemeni military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree and former Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi come as Hamas allies continue to pressure Israel over its ongoing war against the militant group in the Gaza Strip.

The Houthis insist their attacks on shipping through the crucial waterway leading to the Suez Canal and on to the Mediterranean will continue as long as the war continues. Meanwhile, Iran has already launched an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel amid the war, bringing to light a years-long shadow conflict between the two nations.

Saree alleged attacks on the MSC Diego and MSC Gina in a pre-recorded statement. The Joint Maritime Information Center, a U.S.-led coalition of nations operating in the Middle East, said those two missile attacks occurred early Tuesday.

“No one was hit and all crew on board are safe,” the center said. “The last report was that the ships were heading to the next port of call.”

The center added that the ships were targeted “likely due to perceived affiliation with Israel.”

Both ships were sailing for Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Co., which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Saree did not say why it took two days for the rebels to claim the attacks. He also claimed that the Houthis attacked the MSC Vittoria, another container ship, in the Indian Ocean. However, an attack on this ship was not reported or acknowledged by any authority.

The Houthis say their attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are aimed at pressuring Israel to end its war against Hamas in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians there, according to local health authorities. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 others hostage.

According to the US Maritime Administration, the Houthis have carried out more than 50 attacks on ships since November, hijacking one vessel and sinking another. Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined due to the threat.

Meanwhile, Iran’s state news agency IRNA on Thursday published the comments of Kharrazi, a former foreign minister under reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

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In an interview with news channel Al Jazeera that did not appear to air immediately, Kharrazi detailed a nuclear bomb threat he made to the channel in 2022 amid tensions with the West over Iran’s collapsed nuclear deal with world powers in 2022 2015 came.

“If Iran’s existence is threatened, we must change our nuclear doctrine,” Kharrazi said, according to IRNA. “Recently, the military has also stated that it is possible and conceivable to revise Iran’s nuclear doctrine and policy and to deviate from previous explanations if Israel wants to attack nuclear facilities.”

Tensions between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency have increased since 2018, when then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the Tehran nuclear deal. Since then, Iran has abandoned all restrictions the deal imposed on its program and enriched uranium to up to 60% purity – near weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Meanwhile, tensions between Iran and Israel have reached new heights. Tehran launched a drone and missile attack on Israel last month after Israel’s apparent attack on an Iranian consulate building in Syria killed two Iranian generals and others.

The Iranian city of Isfahan apparently came under Israeli fire in recent weeks, even though it was surrounded by sensitive nuclear sites.

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Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.