Second Tehran Proxy Attack-at-Sea Fizzles in the Red Sea

A second maritime attack on an enemy of the Islamic Republic regime failed to result in serious damage but might signal a new emphasis of sea-borne-strategies on the part of Iran’s terror proxies. Following the foiled plot of the coast of Gaza, Tehran-backed Houthi rebels attacked a Saudi-flagged vessel traveling in international waters in the Red Sea on Wednesday. The oil tanker was not seriously damaged and resulted in little more than a vow by the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis that it would protect the shipping lanes – an important pledge that speaks to protecting the oil business in the region where a geographical risk factor has already been tacked-on to the cost of petroleum. Nevertheless, crude prices are still falling.