TEHRAN - In a major development, U.S. officials have announced that one of their warships has come under attack in the Gulf of Aden, near the coast of Yemen, and a British oil tanker has been set ablaze. 

There are two accounts of the incident. 

According to the U.S. military's Central Command, an anti-ship ballistic missile, fired from Yemen, came close to the USS Carney and was shot down. 

A statement by Ansarullah declared "Yemen’s Armed Forces announced a direct hit on a U.S. warship, compelling two American commercial vessels to retreat." 

Both American and Yemeni accounts confirm that a U.S. warship was targeted and that two American vessels retreated from the area. 

The only difference is whether the U.S. destroyer was "directly hit" as Ansarullah has said, or the Yemeni missile was "shot down" as the Americans have said. 

Some American sources confirmed that the Yemeni account is accurate. Experts say it would be natural for the Americans to deny a "direct hit", as that would boost the growing popularity of Ansarullah in West Asia. 

The Yemeni statement goes on to say a "two-hour long engagement with American destroyers and warships in the Gulf of Aden" took place and that Ansarullah ordered two U.S. vessels to withdraw because they were heading to Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. 

Furthermore, Ansarullah officials say that during the "two-hour engagement", U.S. warships tried to escort the American vessels to Israeli ports but failed to do so. 

It would appear the series of joint American-British attacks as well as the militarization of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with U.S. warships have failed to deter Ansarullah from targeting Israeli vessels and cargo ships heading to the regime. 

On the contrary, U.S. warships now find themselves in the firing line of Ansarullah naval forces. 

The American bombing of Yemen has been met with Ansarullah expanding its maritime operations against Israeli, Israeli-affiliated, American, and British vessels as well as U.S. warships. 

The government in Sana'a has stated that its military operations are aimed at ending the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and it will only stop its naval operations once humanitarian aid enters the enclave and the Israeli regime ends its genocidal war against Gazans. 

Following the attack on a U.S. warship, Ansarullah's naval forces hit a British oil container ship sailing off Yemen's waters. 

The strike caused a fire on board the merchant vessel, which was "fully extinguished" with the help of third parties after nearly 24 hours. 

Ansarullah has said it carried out an operation targeting the "British oil ship Marlin Luanda" in the Gulf of Aden. 

Yemeni brigadier general Yahya Sare'e said the ship was a "British" tanker and declared that the attack was in support "of the oppressed Palestinian people" and in response "to the American-British aggression against our country". 

"Using a number of appropriate naval missiles, the strike was direct, and resulted in the burning of the vessel," he said. 

"Yemeni Armed Forces persist with their military operations: enforcing a blockade on Israeli navigation in the Red and Arabian seas until a ceasefire is achieved in Gaza, and food and medicine are allowed into the besieged Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip." 

Another series of American-British airstrikes carried out at the start of the week looks to have done very little to deter or degrade the power of Ansarullah or its position of standing in solidarity with Gaza. 

It appears the only way to stop the operations by Ansarullah is to stop the Israeli war on Gaza, as was the case during the one-week ceasefire in the war on Gaza that also saw no maritime operations by Ansarullah.

Unlike the Israeli war on Gaza where the Israeli military has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, a majority of whom are women and children, there has not been a single casualty during the Ansarullah operations that began in November.