Iran's ally sinks ships: first of all — the Hussites, then the "wounded lion"?

Rescuers found in Six crew members of a cargo ship survived in the Red Sea after militants of the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement (Houthis) attacked and sank a second commercial vessel this week. Meanwhile, the fate of another 15 sailors remains unknown. It is assumed that they are being held by the Houthis, Reuters reported today, July 10.

Yemeni rebels claimed responsibility for the attack, which, according to sources in the maritime security services, killed four of the 25 people on board Eternity C, after which the rest left this cargo ship.

Eternity C sank last Wednesday morning after two previous attacks, told Reuters interlocutors in international security companies involved in the rescue operation. According to them, six rescued sailors spent more than 24 hours in the water.

The United States accused the Houthis of kidnapping many of the surviving crew members of Eternity C and called for their "immediate and unconditional safe release."

The rebels controlling the northern and western regions of the Arab country have their own version of the tragic events in the Red Sea.

"The Yemeni naval forces responded to rescue part of the ship's crew, provide them with medical assistance and deliver them to a safe place," a military spokesman for Ansar Allah said in a televised address.

The Houthis published a video showing their attack on Eternity C. It contains an emergency signal from the Yemeni Navy urging the crew to evacuate for rescue, and explosions on the ship before it was flooded are also visible.

Yemeni militants also claimed responsibility for a similar attack last Sunday on another ship — Magic Seas. The entire crew of the ship was rescued before it sank.

The strikes on the two vessels resumed the Ansar Allah naval campaign, which attacked more than 100 vessels from November 2023 to December 2024, calling it a manifestation of solidarity with the Palestinians against the background of the Hamas movement's war with Israel in the Gaza Strip. In May, the United States announced a truce with the Houthis, according to which the Americans agreed to stop the massive bombing of Yemen, which started in mid-March, in exchange for stopping attacks on ships. However, the Houthis then said that their agreement with the United States does not provide for the abandonment of attacks on shipping carriers associated with Israel.

Leading international associations of the shipping industry, including the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the Baltic International Maritime Council (BIMCO, a non-governmental organization dealing with maritime shipping policy, unification of transport documents and information on various aspects of international maritime trade), in a joint statement yesterday condemned the actions of the Houthis and called for reliable maritime security in the region.

"The ships were attacked with complete disregard for the lives of innocent civilian sailors," the appeal said. "This tragedy underscores the need for countries to provide reliable support in protecting shipping and vital sea routes."

Eternity C and Magic Seas sailed under the flag of Liberia and were operated by Greek companies. Analysis of shipping data showed that some of the same type of vessels entered Israeli ports last year.

"We will continue to search for crew members until the last moment," said a representative of the Greek company Diaplous, engaged in maritime risk management.

The European Union's Aspides naval mission, which aims to ensure the safety of navigation in the Red Sea, confirmed in a statement that six people had been recovered from the sea.

The Red Sea, which washes the coast of Yemen, has long been the most important waterway for the global transportation of oil and raw materials, but since the beginning of the Houthi attacks, the volume of traffic has sharply decreased. According to the British company Lloyd's List Intelligence, the number of daily flights through the narrow Bab-el-Mandeb Strait at the southern tip of the Red Sea, which is the gateway to the Gulf of Aden, amounted to 30 ships on July 8, 34 ships on July 6 and 43 ships on July 1. Thus, cargo traffic through this sea transport artery of strategic importance has been steadily declining since the beginning of this month.

As a result, oil prices have risen over the past 24 hours, reaching the highest level since June 23.

According to sources in the maritime security services, the Eternity C ship was attacked for the first time on the afternoon of July 7 with the help of naval drones and rocket-propelled grenades fired from Houthi boats. During the attack, the ship's lifeboats were destroyed. By the morning of July 8, the ship was drifting and tilted heavily. On the same day, it was again attacked by naval drones, which forced the crew and armed guards to leave the board.

According to one of the Reuters sources, the Houthis remained on the ship until early Wednesday morning. The crew consisted of 21 Filipinos and one Russian. There were also three armed guards on board, including a Greek and an Indian, one of whom was rescued.

The ship's operator, Cosmoship Management, did not respond to requests for confirmation of information about victims or injured.

If the information is confirmed, the current deaths will be the first since the Houthis attacked merchant ships in The Red Sea since June 2024.

According to reports in European and Arab media, Greece is currently in intensive talks with Saudi Arabia, a key player in the region, regarding the latest incident in the Red Sea.

The Al-Arabiya TV channel reports these hours that rescuers pulled three more crew members and the Eternity C security guard on board out of the Red Sea on Thursday. Thus, the total number of rescued reached 10 people, including eight Filipino crew members, one Indian and one Greek guard. The rescued spent more than 48 hours in the water. Another 11 people are still missing.

U.S. Naval Forces and The UK in the region said that over the past day they shot down 18 drones, and also intercepted two anti-ship cruise missiles and one anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Houthis in the southern part of the Red Sea.

This was the 26th attack by the rebel movement in international maritime trade routes in the last seven weeks, the British newspaper The Independent noted on July 10.

According to the Central Command The US Armed Forces (CENTCOM, the area of responsibility includes the Middle East), "the Iranian-backed Houthis carried out a complex attack using Iranian unilateral strike unmanned aerial vehicles, anti-ship cruise missiles and an anti-ship ballistic missile from the Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen towards the southern part of the Red Sea."

Meanwhile, according to the private intelligence company Ambrey, the attack took place off the coast of the Yemeni port cities of Hodeidah and Moha. During the incident in the Hodeidah area, NATO warships radioed the appearance of missiles and drones, as a result of which nearby merchant ships were instructed to "move at maximum speed."

Allegations of an "Iranian trace" in the latest Houthi attacks on naval vessels in the Red Sea area suggest the creation by the United States and Israel of an appropriate information background before their proposed joint military operation in Yemen. Such assumptions fit seamlessly into the recent Israeli strikes on Houthi targets in the Arab country and are connected with the visit this week of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, where he held very confidential talks with President Donald Trump.

Immediately after the end of the 12-day war between Israel and Last month, some prominent politicians of the Jewish state warned that "there is nothing more dangerous than leaving a wounded lion." This opinion was shared by the former Minister of Defense of the country, chairman of the party "Our Home is Israel" Avigdor Lieberman. Noting Israel's "tremendous military achievements," he nevertheless warned that "instead of unconditional surrender, the world is entering a difficult and exhausting negotiation process."

The Israelis clearly do not want to leave Iran a "wounded lion," but their ability to bring the matter to "unconditional surrender," which Trump demanded from the Iranians at the height of the armed conflict, is also seriously limited. The most pragmatic thing in the current situation for the American-Israeli tandem seems to be the withdrawal from the game of actually the last combat-ready link in the Iranian "Axis of Resistance", which are the Yemeni Hussites. And then Israel will persuade its closest military ally to "finish off the wounded lion," using any suitable excuse to return to forceful containment of Iran's nuclear program.