Allies of Iran take ship, hack newspaper
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Yemen’s Houthi rebels seized a ship in the Red Sea, armed drones targeted Baghdad’s international airport and hackers hit a major Israeli newspaper Monday — a string of assaults that showed the reach of Iran-allied militias on the second anniversary of America’s killing of a top Iranian general.
All three coincided with a massive memorial in Tehran for Qassem Soleimani, the general killed by a U.S. drone strike in 2020 in Iraq. Iranian hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi demanded that former President Donald Trump be “prosecuted and killed.”
“If not, I’m telling all American leaders, don’t doubt that the hand of revenge will come out of the sleeves of ummah,” Raisi said, referring to the worldwide community of Muslims.
Monday’s events highlight tensions in the Middle East, which has been roiled by Trump’s 2018 decision to unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from a deal aimed at limiting Tehran’s nuclear program. As talks continue in Vienna to try to resuscitate the accord, Iran remains able to apply pressure from outside the negotiations even as it is squeezed by sanctions and a shadow war with Israel.
The taking of the Emirati ship Rwabee marks the latest assault in the Red Sea, a crucial route for international trade and energy shipments. The Iranian-backed Houthis acknowledged the seizure off the coast of Hodeida, a long-contested prize of the grinding war in Yemen between the rebels and a Saudi-led coalition that includes the United Arab Emirates.
A statement from the Saudi-led coalition, carried by state media in the kingdom, acknowledged the attack, saying the Houthis had committed an act of “armed piracy” involving the vessel. The coalition asserted the ship carried medical equipment from a dismantled Saudi field hospital on the distant island of Socotra, without offering evidence.
“The militia must promptly release the ship or the coalition forces will undertake all necessary measures and procedures to handle this violation, including the use of force if necessary,” Brig. Gen. Turki al-Malki said in a statement.
The Houthis later aired footage from the Rwabee on their Al-Masirah satellite news channel. It showed military-style inflatable rafts, trucks and other vehicles on the vessel, a landing craft that lowers a ramp to allow equipment to roll on and off. One brief clip showed what appeared to be a collection of rifles inside a container.
“It is completely obvious today that the information that this ship was carrying a civilian field hospital is not correct,” said Yahia Sarei, a Houthi military spokesman. “This is clearly military equipment.”
Saudi state television alleged the Houthis transferred the weapons onto the ship.
Meanwhile, no group immediately claimed responsibility for the hacking of the Jerusalem Post’s website. The hackers replaced the Post’s homepage with an image depicting a missile coming from a fist bearing a ring long associated with Soleimani.
“We are aware of the apparent hacking of our website, alongside a direct threat to Israel,” the English-language newspaper wrote.
The newspaper later restored its site. It noted Iran-supporting hackers previously targeted its homepage in 2020.
The hack came after Israel’s former military intelligence chief publicly acknowledged late last month that his country was involved in Soleimani’s killing. The U.S. drone killed the general as he was leaving Baghdad’s international airport.
In Iraq on Monday, troops shot down two so-called suicide drones at that same airport, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. No group immediately claimed responsibility, though one of the drones’ wings had the words “Soleimani’s revenge” painted on it in Arabic. Militias backed by Iran have been suspected in similar assaults. No injuries or damage were reported.