Iran 'directly involved' in Yemen Houthi ship attacks: US Navy chief

The U.S. Navy’s top Mideast commander says Iran is “very directly involved” in ship attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels during Israel’s war against Hamas. Vice Adm. Brad Cooper stopped short of saying Tehran directed individual attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. But Cooper acknowledged in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday that attacks associated with Iran have expanded from previously threatening just the Persian Gulf and its Strait of Hormuz into waters across the wider Middle East. He described the Houthi attacks as the most significant hostile actions against merchant shipping in two generations. Cooper is the head of the Navy’s 5th Fleet.

2021 Suez Canal obstruction - Wikipedia

Panama Canal traffic cut by more than a third because of drought

A severe drought that began last year has forced authorities to slash ship crossings by 36% in the Panama Canal, one of the world’s most important trade routes. The new cuts announced Wednesday by authorities in Panama are set to deal an even greater economic blow than previously expected. Canal administrators now estimate that dipping water levels could cost them between $500 million and $700 million in 2024, compared to previous estimates of $200 million. One of the most severe droughts to ever hit Panama has stirred chaos in the 50-mile maritime route, causing a traffic jam of boats and casting doubts on the canal’s reliability for international shipping and raising concerns.

US, UK launch retaliatory strike against Houthis in Yemen

U.S. officials say the U.S. and British militaries bombed more than a dozen sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis. The military targets included logistical hubs, air defense systems and weapons storage and launching locations. President Joe Biden says the strikes were meant to demonstrate that the U.S. and its allies “will not tolerate” the militant group’s ceaseless attacks on the Red Sea. And he said the U.S. and its allies only made the move after attempts at diplomatic negotiations and careful deliberation. The strikes on the Houthi targets marked the first U.S. military response to what has been a persistent campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Iran Looks East: Building Ties with China

Iran’s theocratic dictatorship, locked into a confrontation with the United States and many other states by its nuclear weapons ambitions and Islamist ideology, is drifting into China’s orbit. The Iran–China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement signed in Tehran in March 2021, and Iran’s admission to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)—the multilateral Eurasian diplomatic forum led by China and Russia—in September, underscore the expansion of political, economic, and strategic ties between Iran and China.