U.S. Sends Two Ships to Join 10 Others Near Yemen

“This is really about sending a message,” a U.S. official, speaking about the deployment of the ships to Yemen, told The New York Times on condition of anonymity. “It is a message to our partners that we are in this and willing to support. It is a message to the Iranians that we’re watching.”

 

“It all has to do with the instability in Yemen. That is why those forces are there and have been recently increased,” Cmdr. Kevin Stephens, the spokesman for the Bahrain-based United States Fifth Fleet, told The Times.

 

The U.S. ships have been deployed to deter “any illegal activity in the area,” including the illicit transit of Iranian weapons, he added.

 

Last Tuesday, the United Nations Security Council imposed an arms embargo on the Iran-backed Houthis and their allies.

 

CNN reports that the American ships lack the authority to “forcibly” board Iranian-flagged ships.

 

However, CNN adds that the American warships will be “joining allied vessels from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other partner nations prepared to intercept a convoy of seven to nine Iranian vessels believed [to be] headed for Yemen. The allies are prepared to board Iranian vessels if they proceed into Yemeni territorial waters.”

 

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