US airstrikes live: Fresh strikes on Houthi anti-ship missiles as America refuses to rule out Iran targets

US conducted fresh strikes against Houthi cruise missiles on 4 February, according to US Central Command.

On X/Twitter, Centcom announced that “on Feb. 4, at approximately 5.30am (Sanaa time), US Central Command forces conducted a strike in self-defense against a Houthi land attack cruise missile.”

It added: “Beginning at 10.30am, US forces struck four anti-ship cruise missiles, all of which were prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea.”

US forces identified the missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and “determined they presented an imminent threat to US Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region”.

“These actions will protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy vessels and merchant vessels.”

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said the military action, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand, “sends a clear message to the Houthis that they will continue to bear further consequences if they do not end their illegal attacks on international shipping and naval vessels”.

He added: “We will not hesitate to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in one of the world’s most critical waterways.”

The UK, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, the Seychelles and Spain have joined the US-led Operation Prosperity Guardian, which aims to protect international shipping in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria were inevitable – the question now is how to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from merging into a larger crisis that affects the whole region:

RAF Typhoon aircraft took off to conduct further strikes against Houthi targets on Saturday, 3 February.

The UK has joined the US for a third time in further strikes in a bid to prevent further attacks on international shipping along a major trade route.

Strikes were against Houthi locations in Yemen involved in the campaign targeting the southern Red Sea and the Bab al Mandab, the Ministry of Defence said.

Fresh assaults were “not an escalation” but were designed to “protect innocent lives and preserve freedom of navigation” in the Red Sea, defence secretary Grant Shapps said.

The United States and Britain have struck Iran-backed armed groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, while Israel presses ahead with its offensive against Hamas in Gaza. Here is what to know about what is happening in the region now, and why:

US ATTACKS ON GROUPS BACKED BY IRAN

On Friday, the U.S. struck Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for the killing of three American soldiers at a U.S. base on the Syria-Jordan border. At the same time, Washington emphasized that it doesn’t want to escalate the conflict with Iran into outright war.

WHY THE US IS IN THE REGION

U.S. troops maintain a presence in the area to fight the Islamic State group. They returned to Iraq in 2014 after the extremists overran much of the country’s north and started a genocidal campaign against the Yazidis, a religious minority. U.S. forces are also present in Syria, where they work with Kurdish-led fighters to keep pressure on IS, as well as in Jordan, a long-standing Western ally. The U.S. rushed additional warships to the region after Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and the start of the war in Gaza to deter Iran and its clients from further escalation.

THE WAR IN GAZA IS AT THE HEART OF IT ALL

All these events are linked to the war in Gaza, which began with Hamas’ Oct. 7 raid into southern Israel. Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped around 250 that day. Israel responded with an air and ground campaign that has so far killed over 27,000 Palestinians.

STRIKES ON YEMEN’S HOUTHI REBELS OVER RED SEA ATTACKS

Separately, American and British forces have repeatedly struck Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are also backed by Iran. This was in response to persistent Houthi missile and drone attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea, one of the world’s most important shipping lanes.

The US response to the attack in Jordan has certainly been stronger and over a wider area than expected. The Pentagon claimed to have hit 85 targets in Syria and Iraq, and the death toll has been at least 10 times that in the original strike. Whether that is a necessary and proportionate response is impossible to judge at this stage. We would, however, tend towards scepticism, given the need for a US president in an election year to look as if he is responding vigorously to threats to American interests around the world.

Read more from The Independent’s editorial:

A spokesperson for the Iraqi government conedmnened the US’s airstrikes targeting the Popular Mobilization Forces, calling it an act of “blatant aggression.”

“This aggressive airstrike will push the security situation in Iraq and the region to the brink of the abyss,” Basim Alawadi said.

“We assert that the presence of the international coalition, which deviated from its assigned tasks and granted mandate, has become a reason for endangering security and stability in Iraq. It also serves as a justification for entangling Iraq in regional and international conflicts,” Mr Alawadi said.

Crews extinguished a fire on board a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel on Saturday after it was struck by a Houthi anti-ship missile in the Gulf of Aden, according to commodities trader Trafigura. It is the latest of more than 30 Houthi attacks in the past three months.

The Islamist group claims it is striking the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which is a narrow strip of sea between Yemen and east Africa that is a key international trade route, in a bid to end Israel’s air and ground offensive against Hamas.

President Joe Biden, speaking after the first round of strikes, said they were a “direct response” to an onslaught of attacks on Red Sea ships which “jeopardised trade, and threatened freedom of navigation”.

The US strikes appeared to stop short of directly targeting Iran or senior leaders of the Revolutionary Guard Quds Force within its borders in an effort to prevent the conflict from escalating further.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar reports: