Iran deployed two warships -- one of them the flagship of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN) -- to the Gulf of Aden within hours after the U.S. Navy launched a night time missile attack on three radar stations in southern Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels allied with Iran.

The U.S. Navy confirmed the presence in the gulf of the light frigate IRIN Alvand (F-71), flagship of  IRIN, and the light replenishment ship IRIN Bushehr (F-422). The Gulf of Aden is the entrance to the Red Sea through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

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On Oct. 12 at around 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time (0100 GMT), the USS Nitze (DDG-94), one of three warships patrolling the Red Sea off the southern coast of Yemen, launched BGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles against three radar sites. The navy said the radars were destroyed.

Iran's Tasnim News Agency, which has links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, reported both IRIN warships are heading towards the Yemeni coast and probably into the Red Sea "to protect the country's trade vessels against piracy" despite piracy being almost non-existent in the gulf.

Tasnim also said "the presence of the Iranian fleet in the Gulf of Aden coincides with the U.S. decision to directly get involved in a Saudi-led war against Yemen."

There is a chance Iran might reinforce the Alvand and Bushehr with other IRIN warships but that would run afoul of the more powerful U.S. Navy squadron in the Red Sea.

Yemen's Saba News Agency, which was seized by the Houthis in 2015 and has since become a propaganda tool, charged that "U.S. allegations" of its warships being targeted were made to create "false justifications to pave the way for Saudi-led coalition to escalate their aggression" against Yemen "and to cover for crimes continually committed" by the coalition fighting to oust the Houthis from power.

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Sharaf Luqman Haq said the "direct American attack and targeting of Yemeni territory this morning is unacceptable and any developments will be dealt with accordingly."

The Alvand is armed with four C-802 anti-ship missiles (ASM), which are derived from the Chinese YJ-8 ASM but with extended range. Reports say it was a C-802 fired by Houthis that struck and heavily damaged the HSV-2 Swift hybrid catamaran on the evening of Oct. 1.

At the time of the attack the Swift, which previously served in the U.S. Navy, was in the employ of the United Arab Emirates Navy.

Houthi rebels also launched two C-802s at the USS Mason (DDG-87), an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, on the evening of Oct. 9. Mason defeated both ASMs with a combination of defensive missiles and missile spoofers.

Along with the USS Mason and USS Nitze on patrol is the USS San Antonio (LPD-17), an amphibious transport dock or landing platform dock carrying hundreds of battle ready U.S. Marines.

TagsIslamic Republic of Iran Navy, IRIN, IRIN Alvand, IRIN Bushehr, U.S. Navy, Gulf of Aden, Bab el-Mandeb Strait, USS Nitze, USS Mason, yemen, Houthis