TEHRAN - The spokesperson for the Ansarullah Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Sare’e, has announced the Sanaa-based government’s naval forces have conducted four major operations in the waters off Yemen against two American ships, one British vessel as well as shooting down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone.

In response to America’s designation of Ansarullah as a terrorist organization, the ongoing US-UK aggression against Yemen, and the devastating Israeli war on Gaza, the Sanaa government has indicated it has the prowess to significantly escalate developments in the Red and Arabian seas. 

In the space of 24 hours, Ansarullah’s military announced the targeting of two American vessels, “Sea Champion” and “Navis Fortuna” in the Gulf of Aden. The Yemeni forces also struck the British cargo ship Rubymar with two missiles. 

As a result of extensive damage, Sare’e said the British ship “is at risk of sinking”, while also affirming that the Yemeni forces ensured the safe exit of the British ship’s crew during the operation in the Gulf of Aden. 

Furthermore, the spokesman announced that the Yemeni air defenses successfully shot down an American MQ 9 aircraft with a suitable missile while it was conducting hostile missions against Yemen in the skies of the port city of Hodeidah “on behalf of the Israeli regime”. 

Ansarallah later published a video of the U.S. MQ-9 drone (which is used for surveillance but can also be armed for combat missions), being tracked down, then shot at with a surface-to-air missile. The footage also shows the drone set on fire in the sky after being targeted with a direct hit, its fall, and its wreckage on the ground. 

“Operations in the Red and Arabian seas will continue until the Israeli aggression ends and blockade on Gaza is lifted,” Sare’e added. 

It is not the first time that Ansarullah forces have shot down the modern U.S. military MQ-9 Reaper aircraft. 

On November 8, 2023, the Yemeni Air Force downed the $30 million American UAV for the first time outside Yemeni land as it was conducting hostile actions and surveillance in Yemeni regional waters, as part of Washington’s efforts to protect the Israeli regime. 

In an interview on CBS’s ’60 Minutes’, U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper admitted that the military engagement against the Yemeni armed forces in the Red Sea constitutes one of the most significant naval battles that the U.S. has encountered in many decades. 

“I think you’d have to go back to World War II where you have ships who are engaged in combat,” Cooper told the host on Sunday before adding, “When I say engaged in combat, where they’re getting shot at, we’re getting shot at, and we’re shooting back.” 

Cooper, the deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command revealed to the broadcaster that approximately 7,000 sailors from the U.S. Navy have been deployed to the Red Sea. 

Since mid-November, Yemeni armed forces have blocked the Red and Arabian seas in the face of Israeli vessels as well as vessels bound to Israeli ports, in support of the Resistance in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian civilians in the enclave. 

The Sanaa government's Supreme Political Council reiterated the steadfast stance of the Yemeni forces, pledging not to relent until the Israeli war on Gaza ceases, the blockade is lifted, and essential supplies are allowed to enter. 

The council also emphasized the government’s commitment to intensify operations in the waters off Yemen against “hostile nations”. 

The United States and Britain have been conducting a series of ongoing attacks against Yemeni sites in response to Ansarullah’s maritime ban on Israeli vessels transiting the Red Sea or ships affiliated with the regime docking at the occupied Palestinian territories. 

The attacks by the American and British militaries have failed to deter Yemen, which has expanded its operations to include American-British vessels and warships deployed near the country. 

Senior Ansarullah leader Mahdi al-Mashat signed a decree on Tuesday that officially designates the United States and the United Kingdom as “level One on the Classification of States, Entities, and Individuals Hostile to Yemen.” 

The decree read: "They are deemed supporting, protecting, and sponsoring states of the Zionist entity and participants in the genocidal crimes perpetrated by the Zionist entity against the Palestinian people.”