The Iranian-supported Houthi have effectively shut down one of the most important shipping lanes in the world. Only the Saudis, and maybe the Egyptians, are willing to wade into Yemen and put a stop to this. But Iran has essentially frozen them into place with the Hamas attack on Israel.

LONDON — A U.S. warship shot down 14 suspected attack drones over the Red Sea on Saturday, and a Royal Navy destroyer downed another drone that was targeting commercial ships, the British and American militaries said.

 

Houthi rebels in Yemen have launched a series of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, and have launched drones and missiles targeting Israel, as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to spread.

 

U.S. Central Command said that the destroyer USS Carney “successfully engaged 14 unmanned aerial systems” launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

 

The drones “were shot down with no damage to ships in the area or reported injuries,” Central Command tweeted.

 

U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said that HMS Diamond fired a Sea Viper missile and destroyed a drone that was “targeting merchant shipping.” The overnight action is the first time the Royal Navy has shot down an aerial target in anger since the 1991 Gulf War.