An American defense official denied a report that the United States military sunk an Iranian spy ship in the Red Sea, the Washington Examiner reported Tuesday.
Saudi Arabian media outlet Al-Hadath reported that the U.S. had sunk the Iranian reconnaissance ship Zagros, which specializes in signal intelligence, in a coordinated attack with Israel's bombing of Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
Not so, said the U.S. defense official, adding, Zagros "is pier side in Bandar Abbas" in Iran, the Examiner reported.
The Zagros is Iran's first and most advanced reconnaissance ship, according to Eurasian Times.
Al-Hadath later retracted its report, according to Israeli Ynet News.
The errant report comes amid heightened tensions in the region. The U.S. military continues to pound Houthi targets in Yemen as they claimed for a third time to have targeted the USS Harry S. Truman carrier group with missiles and drones.
The Houthis, the terrorist group backed by Iran, said Tuesday they will not "dial down" their attacks on ships in the Red Sea despite outreach from Tehran reportedly asking them to cool tensions.
"There will be no talk of any dialing down of operations before ending the aid blockade in Gaza. Iran is not interfering in our decision but what is happening is that it mediates sometimes but it cannot dictate things," Jamal Amer, the Houthis foreign minister, told Reuters late Monday.
President Donald Trump said Monday he would hold Iran responsible for any attacks carried out by the Houthis.
"Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible," Trump posted to Truth Social.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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