Are we witnessing a military escalation? Three destroyers as well as a P8I maritime patrol aircraft were sent to the area in response to the “recent wave of attacks in the Arabian Sea”, the Indian Navy said in a statement released overnight from Monday to Tuesday. December 26. A chemical tanker was hit on Saturday off the coast of India by a drone, fired from Iran according to the United States. Tehran has denied any involvement.
The targeted ship, the MV Chem Pluto, which sails under the flag of Liberia but belongs to a Japanese company, was moored Monday off the Indian port of Bombay (west). “Analysis of the attack area and debris on the ship indicates a drone attack,” the Indian Navy said, adding that “further analysis will be required.”
India has also stepped up its efforts against piracy in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Yemen, where a Maltese-flagged bulk carrier was targeted in mid-December. New Delhi sent a destroyer capable of launching missiles to the region, to “increase its efforts against piracy in the Gulf of Aden”, the navy said.
The Houthis in support of Hamas
This incident follows a series of drone and missile attacks carried out by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in recent weeks in the Red Sea, against a backdrop of war between Israel and Hamas. Their strategy: attack cargo ships seeking to pass from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, claiming to only target those dealing with Israel. A way, according to them, to support their brothers in Hamas.
If the attacks have actually become much more random, this way of acting as a disruptor in the region seems to be working. Several global shipping giants have been forced to take longer and more expensive routes to guarantee their safety, or to suspend their crossing of the Red Sea. The United States even announced the formation of an international anti-Houthi coalition in order to preserve the balance of world trade.
But for Asher Orkaby, historian specializing in the region and researcher at Harvard University, recently interviewed by L’Express, there is nothing to scare the Yemeni rebels, unwavering allies of Iran and determined to influence the conflict in their own way. “These attacks remain low risk for them. They don’t really have much to lose.” And to clarify: “They do not fear significant reprisals. The Saudis have already bombed almost all the military sites.”