Western intelligence sources have issued new statements alleging that Iranian intelligence is directly assisting Yemen's Houthi forces with targeting information, after more than two months of war in Gaza has seen some one hundred or so drones and missiles threaten both US warships and container vessels in regional waters.

"Iran's paramilitary forces are providing real-time intelligence to Yemen's Houthis that the rebels are using to direct drones and missiles to target ships passing through the Red Sea, Western and regional security officials said," a Friday report in The Wall Street Journal says. This is reportedly via one or more Iranian spy ships which patrol the same waters.

"Tracking information gathered by a surveillance vessel controlled by Iran's paramilitary forces in the Red Sea is passed to the Houthis, who have used it to attack commercial vessels passing through the Bab el-Mandeb strait in recent days, according to the officials," according to the report.

This allegation of Tehran's deepened involvement comes on the heels of the Biden administration having unveiled a multinational naval force to patrol and protect the Red Sea. It includes at least ten nations. This Red Sea chaos and uncertainty, which has seen several international shipping vessels struck by drones and missiles, suffering damage, has resulted in rising oil prices and insurance rates.

While weeks ago the Houthis declared they would target any Israeli-linked ship or vessel bound for Israeli ports, tankers of various flags and ownership have come under direct attack. More recently, US warships have actually been targeted too, as the WSJ in a prior report underscored: 

Recently the news broke that the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Carney had fended off several missile and drone attacks in the Red Sea. While Biden administration officials tried to frame the battle, for a battle it surely was, as the Carney's defending nearby merchant ships, it seems clear that Iranian-supplied Houthis were targeting the Carney directly as well as the commercial ships it was accompanying.