Iran's Alborz warship has entered the Red Sea, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Monday, at a time of rising tensions on the key shipping route amid the Gaza-Israel war and attacks on vessels by forces allied to Tehran. The agency did not provide details of the Alborz's mission. It said Iranian warships had been operating in open waters to secure shipping routes, combat piracy, and carry out other tasks since 2009. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis have been targeting vessels in the Red Sea since November in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The Alborz warship entered the Red Sea via the Bab al-Mandab Strait, Tasnim said. The agency did not mention when the warship entered. The head of Iran's Navy, Shahram Irani, was quoted in Iranian media on Dec. 2 as saying that the Alborz was carrying out missions in the Red Sea.
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Akbar Ahmadian and Spokesman for Yemen's Houthi group Mohammad Abdul-Salam met on Sunday and discussed issues of mutual interest and regional security, Iranian media reported on Monday. Ahmadian praised the resistance of the Yemeni people and their courageous actions in supporting the Palestinian people against the aggression and brutal attacks of the Zionist regime, according to Iranian media outlets. The Houthis have launched several drone and missile attacks on Israel and Israeli ships in the Red Sea, vowing that their operations will continue until Israel stops its war on the Gaza Strip in Palestine.
Britain will join a US-led military campaign against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen to stop the group from continuing to disrupt navigation in the Red Sea, the Sunday Times reported on Sunday. It cited an unnamed UK government source, saying the UK, the U.S., and possibly another European country will soon carry out coordinated airstrikes against targets at sea or in Yemen. According to the source, the military action taken by the UK would be "limited" but "significant."
Thousands of Israeli soldiers are being shifted out of the Gaza Strip, the military said Monday, in the first significant drawdown of troops since the war began. This signals that the fighting is being scaled back in some areas of Gaza, particularly in the northern half, where the military has said it is close to assuming operational control. Israel has been under pressure from the United States to begin to switch to lower-intensity fighting. Fierce fighting went on in other areas of Gaza, including the southern city Khan Younis and central areas of the territory. Israel has pledged to charge ahead until its war goals have been fulfilled, mainly dismantling Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for over a decade.
