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Yemen Rebels Threaten Red Sea Attack 01/26 06:24
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels
threatened new attacks on ships traveling through the Red Sea corridor, likely
trying to back Iran as it worried Monday about an approaching U.S. aircraft
carrier after President Donald Trump threatened military action over its
crackdown on nationwide protests.
A short video by the Houthis included previously published images of a ship
on fire, with the caption: "Soon." The rebels did not elaborate, but their
campaign in the Red Sea saw over 100 ships attacked as part of a campaign the
Houthis said pressured Israel over its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The
Houthis halted their fire after a ceasefire in the conflict, though they've
repeatedly warned they could resume fire if needed.
The Houthi threat come as the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other
guided missile destroyers with it move toward the region. Trump has said the
ships are being moved "just in case" he decides to take action against Iran.
Trump already has laid out two red lines for attack -- the killing of peaceful
protesters and Tehran conducting mass executions of those it has arrested in a
massive crackdown over the demonstrations.
Iran renews threats and limits smaller flights
Iranian Defense Ministry spokesperson Gen. Reza Talaei-Nik renewed warnings
Monday to both Israel and the U.S. over any possible attack, saying it would
"be met with a response that is more painful and more decisive than in the
past." Iranian state television quoted Talaei-Nik as adding that threats from
the two countries required Iran "to maintain full and comprehensive
preparedness."
Iran over the weekend unveiled a new banner in Enghelab Square threatening
the Lincoln, showing an aircraft carrier strewn with bodies and streaked with
blood with the warning: "If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind."
However, Iran is still reeling from a 12-day war launched by Israel in June
that saw its air defense systems broadly destroyed and top military leaders
killed, as well as its nuclear enrichment sites bombed by the U.S.
As a sign of concern over its airspace, Iran issued a notice to pilots
Sunday that banned small private aircraft from flying in the country, with
carveouts for the oil industry and emergency medical flights.
Many Western airlines have started to avoid Iranian airspace entirely due to
the tensions, though Gulf Arab carriers flying to Moscow still rely on the
route. Iranian air defense troops in 2020 shot down a Ukrainian commercial
airliner, killing 176 people on board.
Death toll rises from protest crackdown
The protests in Iran began on Dec. 28, sparked by the fall of the Iranian
currency, the rial, and quickly spread across the country. They were met by a
violent crackdown by Iran's theocracy, the scale of which is only starting to
become clear as the country has faced more than two-week internet blackout --
the most comprehensive in the nation's history.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Sunday put the death
toll at 5,848, with the number expected to increase. It says more than 41,280
people have been arrested.
The group's figures have been accurate in previous unrest and rely on a
network of activists in Iran to verify deaths. That death toll exceeds that of
any other round of protest or unrest there in decades, and recalls the chaos
surrounding Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Associated Press has not been
able to independently verify the toll.
Iran's government has put the death toll at a far lower 3,117, saying 2,427
were civilians and security forces, and labeled the rest "terrorists." In the
past, Iran's theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest.
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