Iran sends warship through Red Sea, praises ‘brave’ Houthis after US kills 10

WASHINGTON – Iran wasted no time sending a warship into the Red Sea on Monday, just a day after the US killed 10 Houthi fighters attacking commercial vessels in the contentious waters that separate Africa from the Middle East.

Tehran’s Alborz destroyer crossed the Bab-el-Mandeb strait and into the sea the same day Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian lauded the Houthis’ “strong and vigorous stance … in supporting the oppressed people of Palestine,” according to state-run media.

The Houthis, an Islamist military group backed by Iran, have been lobbing drones and missiles at foreign vessels in the Red Sea from their home of Yemen since November in response to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

On Sunday, the US Navy closed out 2023 by sinking three Houthi ships in the Red Sea in a strike that marked the first time the US had killed any of members of the Iran proxy group since the recent spate of attacks began.

Helicopters from the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely warships opened fire on “four Iranian-backed Houthi small boats,” sinking three of them, while responding to an SOS from the Singapore-flagged vessel Maersk Hangzhou around 6:30 a.m. local time, according to the US Central Command.

Houthis have launched nearly 20 attacks on such vessels in the Red Sea so far, prompting some shipping companies to avoid the waterway altogether.

The major trade lane offers passage between the Mediterranean Sea to the Arabian Sea, enabling vessels to bypass Africa with the Suez Canal.

Iran’s decision to send a warship into the Red Sea was an apparent answer to Washington’s calls for Tehran to condemn the Houthi attacks and encourage peace in the region.

But given that Iran has backed most of the warring parties in the region – including Hamas, which caused the conflict with its Oct. 7 attack on Israel – the rejective response was to be expected, defense experts told The Post on Monday.

In fact, Iran welcomed Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam to Tehran on Monday, with Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Akbar Ahmadian praising the proxy group’s “brave actions” against “Zionist aggression” in the region.

While Houthis have cited the attacks as a response to Israel-Hamas war and said their attacks will not end until Israel allows humanitarian aid to fully flow into Gaza, none of the attacks have been aimed at Israel Defense Force vessels.

While Iran did not directly link the ship’s arrival in the Red Sea to the simmering conflict, Iranian state media reported that it “comes amid rising tensions following Yemen’s retaliatory attacks on Israeli-owned and -bound vessels in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”

“Since 2009, Iranian warships have been operating in open waters to secure shipping lines, fight against pirates and carry out other missions,” Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Still, US and coalition forces will also remain in the Red Sea after the Pentagon on Dec. 18 announced a new partnership – dubbed “Operation Prosperity Guardian” – to counter the growing number of attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.

“This is an international challenge that demands collective action,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in announcing the group’s formation. “The recent escalation in reckless Houthi attacks originating from Yemen threatens the free flow of commerce, endangers innocent mariners and violates international law.”