NYN | News
A member of the Supreme Political Council in Sana’a, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, has denied allegations that the forces of the Sana’a government targeted a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea, calling the U.S. Central Command’s statement about the attack “false.”
In a post on his “X” platform account, al-Houthi said, “The Americans are shedding crocodile tears and spreading false statements,” referring to the U.S. statement that claimed Sana’a forces had attacked two oil tankers, one of which was Saudi-flagged.
Al-Houthi added that “the failure of the U.S. mission to support the temporary entity’s terrorism has driven them to madness, leading to mistakes in their media statements, just as they erred in their military assessments.” He emphasized that “the solution lies in stopping the Israeli aggression on Gaza, not in adopting false information, which only indicates another failure.”
The U.S. Central Command claimed on Monday that Sana’a forces had targeted two oil tankers in the Red Sea, one flying the Saudi flag and the other the Panamanian flag. According to the statement, the Panamanian-flagged vessel Blue Lagoon 1, managed by a Greek company, and the Saudi vessel Amjad were attacked with two ballistic missiles and a drone, resulting in damage to both ships, which were carrying crude oil.
In contrast, the Saudi shipping company Bahri denied on Tuesday that its tanker Amjad was attacked in the Red Sea.
The company clarified that the ship was sailing near another tanker that had been attacked, confirming that Amjad had not sustained any damage or injuries and continued its voyage as planned without any interruption.
On Monday evening, the Sana’a government forces claimed responsibility for targeting the Blue Lagoon 1 tanker, confirming that the attack was carried out “using a number of missiles and drones,” and that the ship had been “directly hit.” They explained that the attack was a result of the ship owner’s violation of the ban on entering the ports of occupied Palestine.
Sana’a forces also renewed their warnings to all companies dealing with the “Israeli enemy” that their ships would be targeted while passing through the declared maritime operations area, regardless of their destination.
EU Mission Unable to Tow Burning Ship “Sounion”
In a related development, the European Union’s Aspidas military mission in the Red Sea announced on Tuesday that it was unable to tow the burning ship Sounion, stating that private companies were exploring alternative technical solutions for the towing operation, which the Sana’a government had previously approved.
In a statement posted on the “X” platform, the mission explained that it had been involved since September 1 in protecting the tugboats participating in the rescue operation of the Sounion to avoid an environmental disaster. However, the private companies responsible for the salvage reported that the technical conditions were not met to complete the towing, and it was not safe to proceed.
It is worth noting that the Sana’a government had agreed to tow the ship, which has been burning since August 23. However, the British magazine Lloyd’s List recently revealed that U.S. sanctions were the main obstacle to towing the Sounion.
The magazine reported that the tugboats hired by the ship’s insurance company were subject to sanctions by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and would not be able to operate without the necessary approvals. The magazine also mentioned that the Sana’a government had provided guarantees not to attack the tugboats if the required authorizations were obtained.
