The Houthis have agreed to allow tugboats to reach the Sounion, a Greek-flagged oil tanker that’s anchored in the Red Sea that was struck by Houthi missiles last week.
The Sounion was disabled by the Houthi strike and is reportedly still on fire. A French destroyer rescued the 29-person crew of the ship in the aftermath of the attack, and they were taken to Djibouti.
Iran’s mission to the UN said on Wednesday that the Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, agreed to let the tanker be towed after several requests.
“Several countries have reached out to ask Ansar Allah, requesting a temporary truce for the entry of tugboats and rescue ships into the incident area,” the Iranian mission said. “In consideration of humanitarian and environmental concerns, Ansar Allah has consented to this request.”
Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam denied in comments to Reuters that the group has agreed to a temporary truce. He said they only agreed to allow the damaged tanker to be towed away.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon said that the tanker could be leaking oil into the Red Sea and that the Houthis had threatened boats that tried to approach the vessel.
The Houthis have continued their attacks on Israel-linked and other commercial shipping, a campaign they launched in response to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. Back in January, the US began a bombing campaign against the Houthis, but that has only escalated the situation.
The last US missile strike reported by US Central Command took place on August 23. The Houthis have been clear that the only thing that would stop their attacks would be a ceasefire in Gaza.
The tanker must be carrying commodities other than oil…! Gold perhaps…!
Black gold !
(possibly even vinyl copies of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Gold_(Nina_Simone_album) )
Nice. They damage a ship, than let it be rescued. It is time to blast those pigs behind the attack. Like Israel did to their port recently.