After the latest attack in the Red Sea on a British oil tanker, a top Houthi official in the Yemeni capital is vowing to attack U.S. interests across the region, including military bases on the east coast of Africa in Djibouti, Eritrea and elsewhere. Some commentators think this is part of an Iranian strategy to increase Tehran's influence in the Middle East.

Arab media reports that Yemen's Houthis — who control much of the north of the country and part of its Red Sea coast —attacked a British oil tanker, the Andromeda Star. U.S. military sources indicated the ship was slightly damaged by three missiles fired by the Houthis. A U.S. drone struck targets in Yemeni territory controlled by the Houthis to retaliate.

The Houthis' military spokesperson, Yehya Saree, claimed in a video statement aired by Arab media that Houthi forces "hit the Andromeda Star directly," and that the Houthis' air defenses also shot down a U.S. drone flying over Houthi-controlled territory.

He said that [Houthi forces] fired the "appropriate-sized missiles" to target the ship, hitting it directly, adding that Houthi air defense units also shot down a U.S. MQ-9 drone over the Houthi bastion of Saadeh in the far north of Yemen.