Iran is 'directly involved' in Yemen Houthi rebel ship attacks, US Navy's Mideast chief tells AP

The U.S. Navy’s top Mideast commander says Iran is “very directly involved” in ship attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels during Israel’s war against Hamas. Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of the Navy’s 5th Fleet, stopped short of saying Tehran directed individual attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. However, Cooper acknowledged in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday that attacks associated with Iran have expanded from previously threatening just the Persian Gulf and its Strait of Hormuz into waters across the wider Middle East. He described the Houthi attacks as the most significant hostile actions against merchant shipping in two generations.