Yemen Monitor/ Aden/ Exclusive:
According to the US Navy data which indicates that an American aircraft carrier is currently stationed in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Yemen.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) was operating off Bahrain in late July but has apparently relocated to the Yemeni coast following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, in Tehran.
The Houthis have vowed to participate in Iran’s response to the Israeli occupation; in turn, the US has promised Israel its defense in the Middle East.
Pentagon officials told reporters on Monday that the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and its accompanying ships would “accelerate” their journey from the Pacific to the Middle East.
Last week, the destroyers USS Cole and USS La Boule were transferred from the Gulf of Oman to the Red Sea, as part of US preparations and the deployment of additional forces in the Middle East in response to threats from Iran and its proxies in the region.
The exact number of other US destroyers present between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, where US forces are deployed, is unknown.
Since the end of the last year, the Houthis have been targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and have recently expanded their operations to the Indian Ocean. They claim to be targeting ships linked to Israel, which is launching a brutal attack on Gaza Strip. However, the Yemeni government and experts say the Houthis’ goals are domestic, aimed at escaping internal crises and improving their image in the region.
In response, the US and Britain have been conducting an airstrike campaign against Iranian-backed Houthi militants since January 11. As a result, the Houthis have announced an expansion of their operations to include US and British ships.
From November to early July, the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) recorded more than 200 attacks on US commercial or military ships off the coast of Yemen, including nearly 100 attacks since the start of US airstrikes on Yemeni territory.
