NYN | News
Russian military expert Yuri Liamin commented on the Pentagon’s assertion that the forces of the Sana’a government are using weapons capable of reaching the Mediterranean Sea.
The Russian newspaper “Nezavisimaya Gazeta” quoted Liamin as saying, “Ansar Allah [Houthis] can at least use suicide drones to achieve their objectives in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, as their specifications allow them to reach there.”
Liamin, who is the chief researcher at the Russian Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, pointed out that it is likely that the Houthis also have anti-ship versions of long-range cruise missiles, such as the Quds-4, which have a range of up to two thousand kilometers.
He noted that the forces of the Sana’a government, or what he referred to as “the Houthis,” have the ability for precise target designation from long distances when attacking ships, explaining that “there is already a successful example of a long-range strike, albeit in a different area: at the end of April, a Houthi-affiliated drone hit the MSC Orion ship in the Indian Ocean from a very long distance from the area they control.”
It’s worth mentioning that Bloomberg agency said on Wednesday that the US Pentagon “confirmed that the Houthis are using weapons that can reach the Mediterranean Sea.”
Last Thursday, the leader of the Ansar Allah movement (the Houthis), Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, confirmed in a televised speech, in which he reviewed the number of operations carried out by Sana’a forces against Israeli ships and those affiliated with them, that “one of the military operations during this week was carried out towards the Mediterranean Sea,” threatening that direct operations from Yemeni territories “will have a significant impact,” saying: “There are forthcoming signs carrying great, significant, and influential momentum.”
The forces of the Sana’a government announced on Friday, in a statement by its spokesperson Yahya Saree, targeting two Israeli ships in the Arabian and Mediterranean seas, and a third in the Red Sea belonging to a Greek company that had previously delivered ships to Israeli ports.
The statement warned all companies dealing with the Israeli occupation that their ships, regardless of their destination, will be targeted within the announced operational zone.
Since late last year, the forces of the Sana’a government have been targeting Israeli ships and those affiliated with them in the Red and Arabian Seas before announcing the extension of their operations to a part of the Indian Ocean. They recently announced the start of the implementation of the fourth phase of escalation against ships “up to the Mediterranean Sea” in support of Palestinians in Gaza. They say their operations against “Israel” will continue until the latter stops the genocide war in Gaza and lifts the siege.
In response, the United States and Britain launched airstrikes on Yemen, prompting the forces of the Sana’a government to announce that their operations will include targeting American and British commercial and military ships in response to what they called “the American-British aggression.”
On February 19, 2024, the European Union announced the launch of a military operation named “Aspidus” led by Italy in the Red Sea, while the United States announced the launch of an operation named “Guardian of Prosperity,” aimed at countering attacks launched by the forces of the Sana’a government against “Israel.”
