US forces shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile and three unmanned aerial systems launched from Iranian-backed Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen toward the USS Carney in the Red Sea.
The incident on Tuesday saw CENTCOM forces neutralize the incoming threats, averting any harm or damage to the USS Carney amidst the Houthis' blockade of the Red Sea in allegiance with Hamas in Gaza. “There are no injuries or damage to the ship,” the statement read.
CENTCOM clarified that the identified missiles, UAVs, and USVs posed an imminent threat not only to US Navy ships but also to merchant vessels in the region.
Amidst escalating tensions in the region, Houthi fighters have been targeting both commercial and military vessels since November. Initially directed at ships associated with Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza the attacks have since broadened to include vessels linked to the United Kingdom and the United States in retaliation for their support of Israel's right to defend itself after the Hamas attacks of October 7 which sparked an Iran-backed proxy war.
Last month, US forces, in collaboration with the United Kingdom Armed Forces and other nations, conducted strikes against 18 Houthi targets in Yemen controlled by Iranian-backed militants. The multinational efforts aim to safeguard their respective countries, partners, and allies in the region.
The heightened tensions in the Red Sea has led major shipping lines to avoid the critical trade route, choosing longer journeys around Africa instead. The shift has resulted in increased expenses, raising concerns about global inflation.
Majid Dastjani Farahani, sanctioned by the US treasury in December 2023, is believed to be an officer from Iran’s intelligence ministry recruiting individuals “for operations in the U.S.,” as revenge for the killing of Iran’s top extra-territorial operator in the Middle East, General Qasem Soleimani four years ago.
The Iranian regime has never hidden its intentions to avenge Soleimani’s killing. High on their hit list seem to be Trump-era officials who could be imagined having had a role in the decision to strike Soleimani’s convoy at the Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran, through all tools and capacities in order to bring to justice the perpetrators and all those who had a hand in this government sanctioned act of terror, will not sit until that is done,” Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said in his UN General Assembly address last September. “The blood of the oppressed will not be forgotten.”
Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo and Trump’s special envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, are believed to be targets, both under round-the-clock protection from the US government. The provision is costing the American taxpayer around a million dollars each month, as revealed in a US Senate hearing last week featuring Brian Hook.
Also on the hit list is John Bolton, who was Trump’s national security advisor in the months leading up to the killing of Soleimani.
It’s unclear whether Farahani is believed to have succeeded in recruiting someone, and if he did, how far they managed to advance their plan on American soil. The FBI says that Farahani has also attempted to recruit individuals to spy on some “religious sites, businesses, and other facilities in the United States.”
Farahani acted or purported to act “for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security,” according to the FBI. He is said to travel “frequently” to Venezuela from Iran and speaks Spanish –all of which could explain, partially at least, why the Most Wanted notice was issued by the FBI's field office in Miami.
Iran seems to be focused on enlisting non-Iranians, especially criminals or armed militia, to act on its behalf, mainly, it seems, to avoid culpability. This is perhaps most evident in Iran’s attack on US interests in the Middle East, which is always directed through the regime’s proxies in the region.
But planning operations inside the United States is less evident and far in between.
In 2021, U.S. authorities revealed that there was a plot to kidnap Iranian-American activist, Masih Alinejad, from her home in Brooklyn and take her by speedboat to Venezuela. In January 2024, the US Justice Department indicted three natives of Azerbaijan for allegedly attempting to murder Alinejad in New York.
Around the same time, the Justice Department also indicted an Iranian gang leader plotting to assassinate unnamed Iranian dissidents in Maryland.
Targeting dissidents and opposition figures abroad has been a hallmark of the Iranian regime ever since its inception in 1979. Iranian activists, journalists, even artists, have been assassinated in cold blood and often in gruesome fashion to eliminate political alternatives –and also set examples for those daring to oppose the Islamic Republic.
But targeting US officials on American soil is adventurism of a different order. It is not clear if the new revelation will result in any action by the Biden administration that spent its first two years in office to try reach some sort of a deal with Iran over its sprawling nuclear program.
