The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On June 22, 2024, U.S. Central Command stated that the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier would be replacing the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in its area of responsibility.[1] The USS Eisenhower has been positioned in the Red Sea for several months, providing protection for vessels in its area from attacks of Yemen's Iran-backed Ansar Allah Movement (Houthis), and taking part in retaliatory action against Houthi targets.
On that same day, Muhammad Ali Al-Houthi, a member of Ansar Allah's political council, published a post on his Telegram and X accounts, responding to the statement, and stating that "we advise American forces to stop the attack on Gaza and lift the blockade, instead of sending additional forces to protect the Jews' crimes…" He added threateningly: "We recommend that the soldiers of [USS] Roosevelt listen well to their colleagues on board the [USS] Eisenhower, so that they understand the lesson without need for repetition."[2]
Shortly thereafter, Al-Houthi released an additional statement on the matter. Supposedly quoting "the soldiers and admiral of the aircraft carrier Eisenhower" as saying that "the Red Sea was not a picnic for them," Al-Houthi added that "the soldiers of the aircraft carrier Roosevelt need to understand that the time of relaxation and amusement has passed, and the only way to enjoy these pastimes is [to return to] the beaches of California."[3]
On June 25, Al-Houthi published a third statement, claiming that because the USS Eisenhower had failed to stop the Houthis' maritime "operations,", and given that the USS Roosevelt would be carrying the same weaponry, "failure is the fate of the Roosevelt." The only way to stop the "Yemeni operations," he asserted, is to "stop the attack on Gaza."[4]
Ansar Allah have been conducting attacks on military and commercial vessels in the Red, Mediterranean and Arabian Seas in recent months. Most recently, in the third week of June, they claimed four missile and drone attacks, including an attack on the USS Eisenhower.[5] On May 31, the Houthis launched a concentrated assault on the USS Eisenhower. While CENTCOM announced that the carrier was not struck, the Houthis – including Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi – questioned the claim and suggested that media personnel be allowed on the vessel to corroborate it.[6]
[1] X, June 22, 2024.
[2] X, June 22, 2024.
[3] X, June 23, 2024.
[4] X, June 25, 2024.
[5] See JTTM Report: Over One Week, Houthi Ansar Allah Movement Claims Four Missile And Drone Attacks – Two With Islamic Resistance In Iraq – On U.S. Aircraft Carrier 'Eisenhower' And Six Commercial Vessels, June 23, 2024.
[7] See JTTM Report: Houthi Ansar Allah Movement Officials Celebrate Claims Of Attacks On Aircraft Carrier 'USS Eisenhower,' Urge Other Countries To Target American Aircraft Carriers In Event Of U.S. 'Aggression' Against Them, June 4, 2024; Head Of Yemen's Ansar Allah (Houthis) Supreme Revolutionary Committee Calls Videos Of USS Eisenhower 'Worthless'; Suggests Journalists Visit Vessel For Accurate Reporting, June 6, 2024.
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