Updated

Updated · Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty · Jul 24

Saudi-Led Forces Hit Houthi Sites After 3 Tanker Attacks Threaten Red Sea Shipping

Updated

Updated · Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty · Jul 24

Saudi-Led Forces Hit Houthi Sites After 3 Tanker Attacks Threaten Red Sea Shipping

Q: What secret cargo was targeted in the disputed Sanaa airport strike that ignited this deadly new cycle of retaliation?

The disputed Sanaa airport strike was aimed at an Iranian aircraft that Yemen’s internationally recognized government said was carrying a Houthi delegation — and, more importantly, what it described as covert Iranian support cargo. According to statements cited in the reporting, Yemeni officials said the plane was linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was suspected of transporting “personnel, know-how, and military and dual-use equipment.” That is the closest documented account of the “secret cargo” allegedly being targeted. The plane was reportedly trying to land in Sanaa after carrying Houthi figures back from Tehran, where they had attended the funeral of Iran’s late supreme leader. Yemeni authorities said they struck the runway to stop the aircraft from landing, arguing that Iran was violating Yemeni airspace. Houthi officials rejected that account, blamed Saudi Arabia for the strike, and said the aircraft instead carried medical patients, stranded Yemeni civilians and an official delegation. So the cargo at the center of the dispute was not independently verified. But the government’s stated rationale was that the aircraft was bringing in clandestine Iranian military and dual-use materiel, along with IRGC-linked personnel and expertise. That allegation appears to have triggered the latest round of retaliation.

3 articles · Updated · Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty · Jul 24

Saudi authorities said coalition forces completed a "decisive and strong" strike on Houthi military sites in Yemen after the Iran-backed group hit two Saudi tankers on July 23 and reportedly another on July 24.
The operation targeted sites used to threaten commercial shipping in and around Hodeidah, following the Houthis' announced blockade of Saudi-flagged ships in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
Saudi media said the port of Hodeidah remained open to navigation, while Reuters witnesses reported several air strikes and Houthi media said telecom facilities and Kamaran Island were hit.
Trump had warned a day earlier that any further Houthi attacks would bring "major military punishment" for both the Houthis and Iran, which Washington blames as the group's backer.
The strikes deepen pressure on two critical sea lanes—the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz—as the US says it has carried out 13 straight nights of attacks on Iranian targets.