Iran’s Houthi proxies in Yemen have once again demonstrated their willingness to disrupt international maritime trade and threaten the Middle East.

In a statement, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for a drone attack targeting four ships heading to Israel’s northern Haifa port on Saturday. He alleged the vessels belonged to companies that violated its fanatical unilateral ban on allowing ships to enter ports of “occupied Palestine”.

According to Reuters, the targeted ships included the MSC Unific in the Arabian Sea, the British landing ship “Anvil Point” in the Indian Ocean, the American oil tanker Delonix in the Red Sea and the Lucky Sailor container ship in the Mediterranean Sea.

Shortly after Hamas’ massacre against Israel on October 7, the Houthis’ escalating maritime aggression began, pointing to direct orders from their Iranian patrons. In a televised speech right after Hamas’ attack, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei urged Arab nations to blockade international trade routes in an effort to place a chokehold on Israel’s economy.

“The Zionist regime must be condemned, and the entire Muslim world must be mobilized against it,” Khamenei said. “The path of oil and food exports to the Zionist regime should be blocked.”

“Muslim states must not cooperate economically with the Zionist regime, but denounce these catastrophes and crimes vociferously and without hesitation in all international forums.”

Despite retaliatory airstrikes by the US and Britain against Houthi targets, the terrorist group has largely continued carrying out Iran’s bidding unabated.