The Wall Street Journal reports that Iran is not just providing Houthi rebels in Yemen with drones and missiles to attack shipping in the Red Sea, but also vital location intelligence, via a spy ship the country has stationed in the area.
The information comes courtesy of the American government, which declassified intelligence information on the extent to which Iran was aiding the efforts to establish a blockade of the Red Sea, forcing ships to either go around the African continent or turn off communications to avoid detection and attack.
As one official put it to the Wall Street Journal: “The Houthis don’t have the radar technology to target the ships. They need Iranian assistance. Without it, the missiles would just drop in the water.”
American strategy in the Red Sea remains unclear. Although they have put together an ostensible multinational coalition to protect shipping in the Red Sea, France and some other European countries have reportedly already withdrawn and are leading their own escort missions of EU ships.
The strategy of defense only, meanwhile, seems to be doing little to deter further Houthi attacks, including two today already (Sunday), according to the US CENTCOM X/Twitter account.
