BRITAIN is preparing to send an aircraft carrier to the Red Sea to blast Houthi targets in Yemen with F-35 Lightning jets.
Defence minister James Heappey gave a “whopping great clue” that one of the Navy’s two carriers would get orders to steam into battle.
The TimesThe Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales (L) sails next to the carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth[/caption]
AlamyOne of the navy’s carriers could be deployed to the Red Sea to deal with the threat of Houthi rebel attacks on commercial ships[/caption]
AlamyJames Heappey, minister for the Armed Forces, gave the ‘whopping clue’ this evening[/caption]
Both HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales are tied alongside in Portsmouth despite attacks by Iran-backed rebels against cargo ships off the coast of Yemen.
Heappey said the Royal Navy’s most formidable warships weren’t needed while the American carrier USS Dwight D Eisenhower was there.
The US Eisenhower, known as Ike, has repeatedly scrambled its fleet of embarked F/A-18 Super Hornets to hit Houthi targets.
Britain has joined the strikes on land by launching RAF Typhoon jets in a 3200 mile round trip from Cyprus.
Heappey signalled the UK aircraft carriers were braced to relieve the USS Eisenhower when it needed time in port.
He said: “With the Ike on station – the Eisenhower on station – and with jets available from Akrotiri, that we were able to meet the challenge as it is now.
“That’s not to say that when the Eisenhower goes home, if we were needed to plug a gap in US deployments, or if the situation deteriorates and we need more, that we wouldn’t [send a British carrier].”
Pressed on whether Britain would deploy a carrier, he said: “I’ve given you a whopping great clue in my previous answer.
“The fact is the Eisenhower can’t stay there forever. And so there’s a thing about just maintaining a carrier presence in the region where we might cooperate with the Americans to provide a capability there.”
It comes as an Iran-backed terror chief tonight announced a halt to his Iraq-based militia’s attacks on US assets inside both Syria and Iraq.
Kata’ib Hezbollah Brigades Secretary-General al-Hamidawi said military operations against the US had been suspended and they will find “new ways” to support Gaza.
The US has 45,000 military personnel currently stationed in the Middle East.
He said: “As we announce the suspension of military and security operations against the occupation forces – in order to prevent embarrassment to the Iraqi government – we will continue to defend our people in Gaza in other ways.”
The Hezbollah Brigades are a group affiliated with the Hashed al-Shaabi, an alliance of Iran-backed former paramilitary groups now integrated in Iraq’s regular armed forces.
His striking comments come amid spiralling tensions across the powder keg of the Middle East after another terror group associated with Iran led a deadly strike against US troops.
President Joe Biden is said to be considering blitzing naval targets as he plots a revenge strike for the ambush on the US base in Jordan that killed three.
Sgt William Rivers, 46, Specialist Kennedy Sanders, 24, and Specialist Breonna Moffett, 23, were killed in the unprecedented attack on the troops’ living quarters that injured another 34.
The strike marked the first US deaths by enemy fire since the start of the Israel-Hamas war – a major escalation in the crisis taking hold across the region.
AFPThe Iraq-based Kata’ib Hezbollah Brigades have called off attacks on US bases and troops in Iraq and Syria[/caption]
Who are the Houthis?
THE Houthi rebels are terrorising the Red Sea by launching persistent missile and drone attacks on vessels and warships – but who are they?
The Shia militant group, which now controls most of Yemen, spent over a decade being largely ignored by the world.
However, since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war they sprung from relative obscurity to holding roughly £1trillion of world trade hostage – turning one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes into an active warzone.
Their warped slogan is “Death to America, Death to Israel, curse the Jews and victory to Islam”.
Why are they attacking ships?
The rebel group has been launching relentless drone and missile attacks on any ships – including warships – they deem to be connected with Israel in solidarity with their ally, Hamas.
However, in reality there have been frequent attacks on commercial vessels with little or no link to Israel – forcing global sea traffic to halt operations in the region and sending shipping prices soaring.
The sea assaults have threatened to ignite a full-blown war in the Middle East as intense ripples from Israel’s war in Gaza are felt across the region – with Iran suspected of stoking the chaos.
Houthi attacks in the Red Sea increased 50 per cent between November and December as the rebel group’s chiefs pledged their assaults would continue until Israel stopped its offensive in Gaza.
And despite repeated threats from the West and joint US and UK strikes blitzing their strongholds in Yemen – Iran’s emboldened terror proxy appears undeterred.
On Monday, Biden held private meetings with his national security team to discuss the “unacceptable” attack – and officials said they are preparing to hit back with force.
White House national security spokesman, John Kirby, vowed that a “very consequential response” would be carried out.
He ruled out the possibility of directly attacking Iran, stating the US would not “escalate” the conflict. However, he said: “We will absolutely do what is required to protect ourselves.”
According to Politico, options include attacking Iranian personnel in Syria or Iraq, or Iranian naval assets in the Persian Gulf.
Meanwhile in the Red Sea, Iran-backed Houthi rebels appear undeterred in their mission to turn the Red Sea into an active warzone.
US and British forces are currently battling to keep the vital shipping lane open under a barrage of missile and drone attacks.
And today, shocking satellite pictures appeared to reveal a secret Iranian base used to train Houthis in how to carry out their maritime raids.
A bombshell report seen by The Sun claims Iran’s warped terrorist army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), trained up hundreds of Houthi recruits.
Since November, the Yemen-based militia have been attacking any ships they deem to have links with Israel in an attempt to avenge Israel’s war in Gaza.
A US-led naval coalition has responded by aggressively patrolling the Red Sea, and American and British forces have struck Houthi military sites across Yemen to keep open the vital trade route.
Four RAF Typhoon jets unleashed laser-guided bombs, while US warships, submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets took out other missile storage sites and launches in a second blitz last week.
It provoked a furious response from the trigger-happy Houthis who vowed that warned the strikes would “not go unanswered and unpunished”.
It comes as Royal Navy destroyer HMS Diamond was forced to defend itself against a Houthi drone ambush on Saturday.
The UK Ministry of Defence said they had “successfully repelled” the Houthi attack using Sea Viper missile- which marked only the third time a Type 45 destroyer has deployed the devastating weapons.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said on Sunday that Britain “remains undaunted” by the drone assault.
Just weeks ago the same warship was hit in what Shapps dubbed the biggest attack from the Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red Sea to date.
Last Friday, a burning British oil tanker was rescued off the coast of Yemen after it was struck by a missile.
The increasingly emboldened Houthis claimed responsibility for the chilling revenge attack on the Marlin Luanda ship, which burst into flames in the Gulf of Aden.
President Joe Biden held talks with his national security team to reportedly discuss revenge strikes on the Iran-backed militia
The three killed US troops have been named as Sgt William Rivers, 46, Specialist Kennedy Sanders, 24, and Specialist Breonna Moffett, 23
Satellite pictures show the Iranian Khamenei Academy of Naval Sciences and Technology where the IRGC apparently trained Houthi recruits
An aircraft launching from USS Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 22 before the US and US led further strikes on Houthi rebel strongholds
The US Eisenhower aircraft carrier strike team has been patrolling the Red Sea
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