The Houthis, an Iranian-backed Shiite militia in Yemen, fired two missiles at a U.S. warship while it was conducting a routine patrol in the Red Sea Sunday.
“We assess the missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen,” Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis told reporters after the incident. The missiles fell into the sea after being fired at the USS Mason, and it is not immediately clear how close they came to the U.S. destroyer.
The Pentagon confirmed the destroyer employed “defensive measures,” but did not specify the severity of the attack.
Iranian-backed militia fire on a U.S. warship in international waters is a significant escalation of the ongoing civil war in Yemen. The U.S. is supporting a Saudi-led air coalition against the Houthi insurgency, which struck a high profile funeral procession Saturday sparking widespread international condemnation. The Houthi’s attack may have been in retaliation for the funeral strike.
The U.S. intercepted an Iranian shipping vessel sending vast shipments of arms to the Houthis in April 2016. The weapons included 1,500 Ak-47’s, 200 RPGs, multiple 50 caliber machine guns.
“This seizure is the latest in a string of illicit weapons shipments assessed by the U.S. to have originated in Iran that were seized in the region by naval forces,” the Pentagon said in a statement at the time.
The White House acknowledged that it believes Iran is actively arming the Houthi insurgency, perpetuating the Yemeni civil war. The Houthis seized Yemen’s capital in 2015, prompting concern by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab nations that Yemen would become an Iranian proxy state.
U.S. support of the Saudi-led coalition has come under fire by the United Nations. A recent UN report notes that Saudi Airstrikes deliberately target schools and hospitals, which has killed nearly 500 children since 2015.
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