Drones attack 2 more ships in Middle East

TEL AVIV, Israel — Two ships traveling in Middle East waters were attacked by suspected Yemen Houthi terrorist drones early on Tuesday, authorities said.

The first attack happened in the southern part of the Red Sea, west of the Yemeni port of Hodeida, with the projectile causing “slight damage” to the vessel’s windows on the bridge, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said. A small vessel had been nearby the ship before the attack, it added.

The private security firm Ambrey identified the vessel as a Barbados-flagged, United Kingdom-owned cargo ship. No one was hurt onboard the vessel, which suffered “minor damage,” the firm said.

A second ship came under attack later Tuesday off Yemen’s southern port city of Aden, the UKMTO reported. Ambrey identified it as a Marshall Islands-flagged, Greekowned vessel coming from the United States and heading to India.

“The vessel reported an explosion 50 meters (165 feet) off its starboard side,” Ambrey said. “No injuries or damage were reported.”

Separately, the White House on Tuesday walked back an earlier statement that it had alerted the

Iraqi government prior to carrying out Friday’s Iraq and Syria strikes.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters shortly after the strikes that Iraqi officials were given advance warning about the U.s.-led operation. He said the assertion was based on information that was provided to him by U.S. officials.

“Turns out that information was incorrect,” Kirby said. He added that he regretted the error.

Kirby’s initial comments generated controversy in Iraq and vehement denials by officials in Baghdad. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-sudani has sought to walk a delicate line between the United States and Iran-backed armed groups in his country.

Iraq’s government is focused on avoiding a domestic or regional spillover of the Israel-hamas war but continuing attacks on the country threaten its hard-won stability, the U.N. envoy for Iraq warned Tuesday.

With the war raging in Gaza, Jeanine Hennis-plasschaert told the U.N. Security Council that “the Middle East is at a critical juncture” and “the same is true for Iraq.”

Attacks originating from inside and outside Iraq will not only undo the country’s stability but “other achievements made in the past 18 months,” she said.