File image.
On April 28, a ship came under attack off the coast of Yemen, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations.
The organization, which was established by the British military to coordinate and exchange information with merchant traffic in the Arabian Sea, said that the attack took place off the coastal town of Nishtun in northwestern Yemen. The town is held by forces allied to the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.
Shots were fired at the unidentified ship in the Gulf of Aden, with three boats, each carrying three to four gunmen, chasing after it, the organization added.
The Houthis (Ansar Allah), Iran’s main allies in Yemen, launched attacks against ships in the Gulf of Aden on several occasions in the past. Somali pirates have been also attacking ships in the crucial naval trade route for years.
The attack came amid de-escalation in Yemen and reports of a Saudi decision to end the war on the country, thus it is highly unlikely that the Houthis were involved.
It also came just a day after Iran seized a Texas-bound oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman. The United States Navy demanded the immediate release of the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker. However, Tehran said that the tanker was seized after colliding with an Iranian fishing boat.
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