Three sailors have been killed and four seriously wounded after the Houthis attacked the True Confidence merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden this week. According to US forces in the region, the 183-metre long ship was hit by a missile launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen.
It’s clear already that the fingerprints of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – the Iranian regime’s paramilitary force – are all over this attack.
For starters, the Islamic Republic of Iran had a clear motive. Until a few days ago, the True Confidence was owned by Oaktree Capital Management, a US based asset-management firm – and also the previous owner of the Suez Rajan tanker, which was seized by the US last year after being caught carrying Iranian oil. This latest attack was intended to send a message to the US after the Suez Rajan was confiscated.
There are other clues, too, that Iran’s regime was involved in this strike. In the Gulf of Aden at the same time as the Houthi attack was the spy ship of the IRGC, the Behshad, which has been providing the Houthis with intelligence.
Washington will no doubt find it politically convenient to deny Tehran’s role in this latest escalation.
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