So far, Pentagon officials are keen to not be drawn into a broader conflict. Rather they called Wednesday’s strike a self-defense measure. But at the same time, defense officials said they were prepared to strike again, should the Houthis threaten American—or even commercial—ships in the region’s waters. – The Daily Beast
A Saudi Arabia-led airstrike that hit a funeral in Yemen and killed more than 140 people is an apparent war crime, a leading human rights group said in a scathing report Thursday. – The Hill
Iran announced Thursday it had deployed two warships to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, where a U.S. Navy destroyer recently fired retaliatory strikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebel sites in Yemen. – The Hill
The missiles were launched from Houthi-held territory, Pentagon officials have confirmed, and the Mason did deploy two Standard Missile-2s and a single Enhanced Sea Sparrow Missile to intercept the incoming missiles, according to the US Naval Institute. It was the first time either self-defense system has been used to protect an American warship from incoming missiles -- making this a pretty big deal -- although Navy officials aren’t sure if the suspected Iranian-backed Houthi missiles were knocked down, or fell into the ocean on their own.
Defense officials tell Reuters they believe the rebels used “small skiffs as spotters to help direct” the attack, and “a radar station under Houthi control in Yemen might have also ‘painted’ the USS Mason, something that would have helped the Iran-aligned fighters pass along coordinates for a strike.”
American warships will keep operating off the coast of Yemen, despite recently coming under fire by anti-government rebels in the country, possibly taking action against those forces should U.S. service members in the region come into harm’s way again. – Washington Times
Airstrikes on a funeral in Yemen on Saturday have inflamed local opinion, and Washington’s support for Saudi Arabia’s campaign against Houthi rebels has implicated the United States in civilian deaths, according to human rights groups. But there’s another potential side effect: It may have prompted the rebels to turn their weapons against U.S. forces. – Washington Post’s Checkpoint
The U.S. military is threatening to retaliate against Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen who are suspected of targeting an American warship in the Red Sea on Sunday. – Military Times
A Navy ship that came under fire from two missiles launched from rebel-held land in Yemen while it transited through international waters Sunday responded in self-defense with three missiles, a Defense Department official confirmed to Military.com. – Military.com
The Pentagon won’t rule out that Iranian missiles provided to rebels in Yemen were used to fire upon two U.S. warships in the Red Sea on Sunday, spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said Tuesday. – Stars and Stripes
The United States is seeing growing indications that Iran-allied Houthi rebels, despite denials, were responsible for Sunday's attack on a Navy destroyer off the Yemen coast, U.S. officials told Reuters. - Reuters
The coalition seems to have been hoping to take out a significant part of the Houthis' military leadership and its allies, who were expected at the funeral. Instead, the attack is likely to deepen the stalemate in a war that has already pushed the impoverished country into collapse. – Associated Press