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Maxar satellite imagery of the Greek-flagged crude oil tanker Sounion that was recently attacked by Yemen’s Houthis [Satellite image (c) 2024 Maxar Technologies]
Yemen’s Houthi group claimed responsibility on Monday for an attack on the bulk carrier Magic Seas in the Red Sea, which has left the vessel taking on water and is expected to sink, Anadolu reports.
In a televised statement, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the vessel was hit by “two unmanned boats, five ballistic and cruise missiles, and three drones” on Sunday.
“The operation directly hit the ship, leading to water ingress. It is now exposed to sink,” Saree said. “Our forces allowed the crew to safely evacuate.”
The Houthi spokesman said the Magic Seas and its affiliated company violated what the group called a “ban on entering occupied Palestinian ports,” in reference to Israeli ports. He did not name the vessel’s owner or operator.
Saree added that the attack followed several warnings sent to the ship, which he said were ignored by the crew.
The Houthis have intensified missile and drone strikes on Israel since the Israeli military resumed attacks on Gaza in March after two months of a shaky ceasefire.
Since November 2023, the group has also targeted commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where more than 57,500 people have been killed in an Israeli onslaught.
An Israeli soldier carries a shell next to a tank in northern Israel, September 27, 2024
ISRAEL’S illegal and unprovoked bombing of Iran, killing military leaders, scientists and numerous other civilians, puts us on the brink of catastrophic conflict.
An attack on this scale would be treated as an act of war by any country. Nor is the Israeli strike a one-off: besides its long record of murdering scientists and bombing diplomatic premises, its strikes on Iranian territory are ongoing, with the overnight bombing of Tehran being followed up by daytime strikes on Tabriz, Shiraz and other cities.
The British government’s calls for restraint are grossly inadequate. The aggressor is Israel and its conduct puts us all at risk. Its attack on Iran must not just be unequivocally condemned: the already overwhelming case for a halt to military co-operation and arms supplies has become more urgent.
Its formal excuse for attacking Iran is illegitimate. Suspicion that Iran might be close to developing nuclear weapons is not grounds for attacking it. Only an imperialist mindset can hold the possession of such weapons by some states acceptable and by others not: and Iran has nothing like Israel’s record of routine attacks on its neighbours. The dangerous and destabilising power in the Middle East is Israel. Besides, those in Iran who say nuclear weapons are their only safeguard against attack will be strengthened today.
Could we be drawn in? Easily. Britain is already directly involved in Israel’s wars. It has bombed Yemen and conducted intelligence-sharing RAF flights over Gaza. It supplies a military committing genocide. It is not illogical for actors in the region to see Israeli allies like Britain and the US as directly culpable for its actions, especially given US President Donald Trump’s hints he is behind the attack.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAUK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
As threats of an Israeli strike on Iran grow louder, the United States is making quiet but unmistakable moves of its own. Over the past month, Washington has quietly repositioned strategic bombers and fighter squadrons to Diego Garcia, a remote U.S. military outpost in the Indian Ocean, squarely within striking distance of Tehran.
The official rationale is force protection. But the scale and nature of the deployments have sparked speculation that Washington is laying the groundwork for potential military involvement in an Israeli-led operation, or, at the very least, sending a message to Tehran that it won’t stand in the way.
Roughly a month ago, the U.S. Air Force deployed six B-2 Spirit bombers to Diego Garcia, a third of its active fleet of nuclear-capable stealth aircraft. These bombers, capable of flying directly from the U.S. to targets across the globe, don’t require forward deployment to be effective. Which is why their presence on a remote island in the Indian Ocean is raising eyebrows.
The B-2s have reportedly been used in prior strikes against Ansar Allah targets in Yemen, though with limited strategic effect. Following the declared conclusion of U.S. operations in Yemen, at least some of the B-2s were replaced by four B-52 strategic bombers, another long-range platform associated with show-of-force missions.
But then, additional firepower arrived. An entire squadron of F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets was flown to the base. While these jets have strike capabilities, open-source intelligence analysts suggest they were likely deployed for base defense. That assessment, if correct, underscores that the Pentagon sees Diego Garcia not just as a staging ground, but as a potential target in a broader escalation.
Meanwhile, intelligence signals point to real movement on the Israeli side. A CNN report this Tuesday cited intercepted communications and activity on the ground indicating that Israel is preparing to strike Iranian nuclear facilities. U.S. officials reportedly believe the plans are active and serious.
In April, Donald Trump remarked that Israel would “lead” any such operation. That comment was interpreted by many as a nod of support, if not a green light, from Washington. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, has repeatedly warned that his government will not allow Iran to become a nuclear weapons state.
Yet even as diplomatic channels remained open, the introduction of new U.S. “red lines” appears to have derailed progress. U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff recently declared that Iran must halt all uranium enrichment, a demand not included in the original 2015 nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Iranian officials rejected the move outright. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated that enrichment is a sovereign right and a non-negotiable issue. Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei dismissed the new U.S. conditions as “nonsense.”
And on May 22, Araghchi issued a sharper warning: Iran, he said, would take “special measures to defend its nuclear facilities” if Israeli threats continued. The statement was deliberately vague, but left little doubt that Tehran is preparing for contingencies.
In Washington, meanwhile, influential think tanks are ratcheting up pressure for a hardline approach. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) has called for the complete dismantling of Iran’s enrichment infrastructure. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) has urged more sanctions. The Atlantic Council argues the U.S. must avoid “reviving Obama’s Iran deal.”
Simultaneously, Dana Stroul, a former Biden official now at WINEP, has argued that Iran’s current weakness presents an opportunity for military action. Her view echoes a growing consensus across Washington’s think tank circuit: that Tehran is vulnerable, and now is the moment to strike.
These are the same voices that helped shape past U.S. interventions in the region. Their resurgence now, alongside tactical military deployments and rhetorical escalations, suggests a familiar pattern.
What’s missing from the conversation is any real public debate about the consequences. Not just for Iran, but for U.S. interests, regional stability, and the American public. A confrontation with Iran would carry significant consequences, yet few in Washington have publicly questioned whether such a conflict serves America’s national interest, save for outliers like Rep. Thomas Massie, who has drawn fire from powerful lobbies simply for asking whether this is our fight to begin with.
The buildup at Diego Garcia may be interpreted as precaution. But it’s also a reminder of how quickly precaution becomes policy, and policy becomes war, especially when shaped by proxies, pressure groups, and allies with very different interests.
Wars don’t always begin with votes. In fact, they often begin with quiet deployments far from view, and even farther from the American people they will ultimately affect.
Feature photo | This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows six U.S. B-2 stealth bombers parked at Camp Thunder Cove in Diego Garcia on April 2, 2025. Though officially deployed for operations in Yemen, the presence of these nuclear-capable aircraft in striking range of Iran has raised concerns that the U.S. is quietly preparing to support a potential Israeli attack. Photo | AP
Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47
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A Yemeni soldier inspects the damage reportedly caused by U.S. airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, April 27, 2025
WHILE today electors endured the rituals of our vastly undemocratic electoral system, Britain was at war. As we approach the anniversary of the victory over fascism in Europe, the Royal Air Force is in action against our former colonial subjects in the Yemen.
Far from defending our shores from foreign invaders, the Royal Air Force is attacking Yemeni targets in co-ordination with Donald Trump’s military as part of the multi-national operation in the Middle East in defence of Israel.
Parliament has not met to discuss launching a war, the British people have not been consulted and only the most alert will have noticed this dangerous escalation in a region where British public opinion is overwhelmingly in sympathy with the Palestinian people who, both in devastated Gaza and in the Occupied Territories and the West Bank, are bearing the brunt of Israel’s genocidal attack.
Make no mistake, US and British logistical support allows Israel’s assault on the Palestinian people. It is a joint operation with intelligence and communications support from British military assets in the region including in Cyprus where an unequal treaty imposed on that country permits Britain to maintain military bases, airfields and electronic intelligence gathering installations.
Long deployed to Israel’s strategic advantage, now these assets are targeted on Yemenis who have leveraged their advantageous strategic position aside the Red Sea and the approaches to the Suez Canal to interdict shipping they suspect of supplying Israel.
UK Labour Party government Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are participants and complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide providing Israel with army and air force support.
Yemenis crowd at Farwah popular market, which Houthis said was struck by U.S. airstrikes, in Sanaa, Yemen, April 21, 2025
THE latest US air attacks on the Yemeni capital Sanaa killed 12 people and wounded 30, the Houthi-led government said today.
This followed the news that US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had shared a second Signal chat in which he gave details of an earlier strike on Yemen.
The Houthis said the latest strike had hit the Farwa neighbourhood market in Sanaa’s Shuub district.Footage screened on the al-Masirah satellite television channel showed damage to vehicles and buildings in the area, with screaming onlookers holding what appeared to be a dead child. Strikes overnight into today also hit other areas of the country, including the Amran, Hodeida, Marib and Saada governorates.Last week, US air attacks on the Ras Isa fuel port killed at least 74 people.
The US is targeting the Houthis in response to their attacks on Israeli and US shipping in the Red Sea.
An Israeli soldier carries a shell next to a tank in northern Israel, September 27, 2024
