Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired an Iranian missile at a Norwegian-flagged delivery, the particles of which were analyzed through US production

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Yemen’s Houthi rebels An Iranian-made anti-ship cruise missile was probably fired at a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Purple Sea in December, an attack that now provides a public, evidence-based link between the transport and the ongoing counterinsurgency campaign against Tehran. US military says.

A file was released on Wednesday by US Protection Perception Company attack on strindaTehran, a key supporter of the Houthis in Yemen’s nearly decade-long conflict, set the ship on fire. These findings match those of a task force of Norway-based insurers that has yet to test the particles discovered in Strinda.

It comes as the Houthis continue their months-long campaign of attacks in the Israel-Hamas war, targeting ships in the Red Sea corridor, which blocks the $1 trillion worth of cargo that passes through it once a year. is being disrupted. perhaps the most intense conflict The US military has been notable since World War II.

A request for comment on Iran’s project to the United Nations was not immediately responded to.

The Strinda was coming from Malaysia and was heading towards the Suez Canal and then heading straight to Italy with a cargo of palm oil when it was attacked by a missile on 11 December. This attack caused a huge fire. The board said the task was extinguished without causing harm to anyone.

The particles found on the ship were then analyzed by the US military. When DIA put forward fragments of the missile’s engine discovered on board the Iranian Nour anti-ship ballistic cruise missile.

“The Iranian Tolu-4 turbojet engine used in the Nour (missile) has unique features – including the compressor stage and stator – that are consistent with engine debris recovered from the Houthi attack on the M/T Strinda,” the DIA file said Has gone. The stator is the desk bound part of an engine.

The DIA said the items matched photographs of Tolu-4 engines that Iran displayed at the Global Breeze and Dimension display in Russia in 2017. Visually, there are similarities in the photographs of the engines.

The Noor was engineered by Iran from the Chinese C-802 anti-ship missile, which Iran purchased from Beijing and began testing in 1996 before the transfer in protest of the US military campaign. The Iranian model is thought to have an area of ​​up to 170 kilometers (105 mi), the advanced model, called Kader, has an area of ​​up to 300 kilometers (185 mi). The Houthis have a missile resembling the Qadr called Al-Mandeb 2 with an associated area.

The Norwegian Shipowners’ Mutual Warfare Dangers Insurance Association, known as DNK, also examined the wreck after the Strinda attack. The association estimated that it was “highly likely” that the ship was hit by a C-802 or Nuar anti-ship cruise missile.

Before the Houthis attacked the Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014, the country had no arsenal of C-802 missiles. Since the Saudi-led coalition entered Yemen’s conflict in 2015 in the name of its exiled executive, the Houthis’ arsenal has become more and more concentrated. Soon – and despite Yemen’s denial of indigenous missile production infrastructure – recent missiles found their way into rebel hands.

Iran has long refused to supply arms to the Houthis, likely a result of years of United Nations sanctions imposed on the rebels. Alternatively, the US and its allies have seized Some hand shipments destined for rebels in Middle East waters, The gunmen have cleverly re-linked Houthi weapons captured on the battlefield to Iran.

Momentum The US has previously accused Iran of supplying missiles to the Houthis for their attacks at sea, with Wednesday’s report providing photographic evidence for the first time in weeks. The file pointed to a seizure made at midnight on January 11 in a raid on an Iranian dhow traveling close to the coast of Somalia, which saw two military SEALs killed, The file said the military had seized identical parts for the Noor anti-ship cruise missile.

The Houthis have launched maritime attacks since 2016, when they launched a missile attack on the Emirati ship Swift-1. Emirati forces in Eritrea and Yemen sail from one side to the other within the Purple Sea, They also attempted to attack the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, United States Mason, around the same week.

However, Houthi attacks have increased sharply since November following the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip. The rebels have targeted more than 70 ships by firing missiles and drones in their campaign, killing four sailors. they have seized a ship And two drowned Within weeks after that.

The Houthis claim their attacks target ships belonging to Israel, the US or Britain as part of the rebels’ aid to the terrorist group Hamas in the war against Israel. Alternatively, most of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict – with some destined for Iran, which supports the Houthis.

“The Houthis have likely used Iran-supplied weapons to carry out more than 100 attacks against land-based targets in Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, and by targeting ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Dozens of attacks have been carried out.” Stated in DIA file.

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Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran contributed to this file.