A mysterious Iranian ship in the Gulf of Aden is facing intense scrutiny from maritime experts who fear it is helping Houthi rebels target commercial maritime traffic.
The Behshad, which looks like a standard dry bulk ship, moved to the Gulf of Aden in January after years of sailing in the Red Sea amid a surge in attacks on ships in the vital waterway near Yemen.
Thereafter it followed an unorthodox, slow and winding route through the waters near the entrance to the Red Sea. Experts also note that Houthi attacks declined last month when Behshad appeared to have ceased operations.
Jon Gahagan, president of maritime risk specialist Sedna Global, said the behavior of the Iranian-registered and flagged Behshad was “extremely unusual” for an alleged cargo ship.
“It does raise significant questions about her role in the current crisis,” he said of her movements and links to the attack. “If she’s not providing the Houthi regime with intelligence on ship movements, then what on earth is she doing?”
Concerns about the Behshad's involvement in providing targeting information to the Houthis have grown since this week's attack on the True Confidence, which was transporting steel and trucks from China to Saudi Arabia, killing three crew members. It was the first fatality since the Houthis began attacking commercial shipping in November in response to Israel's offensive in Gaza.
The Behshad was 43 nautical miles away when the True Confidence was hit. In just 15 days, there had been six more attacks in the Gulf of Aden or at the entrance to the Red Sea.
Experts also pointed out that the frequency of attacks by the Houthis slowed down in February after NBC News reported a cyber attack on Behshad. Data from ship tracking website MarineTraffic around that time showed the ship had been out of its normal cruising area for more than two weeks.
British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps last month highlighted concerns about Iranian ships loitering near Yemen. “The world needs to keep up the pressure on Iran to stop this behaviour,” he told the House of Commons.
The Behshad is registered as a regular dry bulk carrier and from the outside it looks like the thousands of such vessels plying the oceans.
But an English-language video posted last month on a Telegram channel associated with Iran's military described the ship as a “floating armory” and insisted it played a role in combating piracy. The video does not address the contradiction between the Bechshad's image as a merchant ship and its strategic role, but instead warns against attacking it.
A voiceover accompanying the image of the USS Behrshad and the US aircraft carrier said: “Those who conduct terrorist attacks on the USS Behrshad or similar vessels endanger international sea lanes and security and bear global responsibility for potential future international risks.”
The Houthis control much of Yemen and are one of the axis of resistance linked to Iran that have emerged since the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war in Gaza. The militant groups Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, which have launched attacks on Israel, also belong to the same group. They share the same anti-Israel, anti-American ideology and say their actions are in support of the Palestinians.
U.S. officials have accused Iran of providing “tactical intelligence” to the Houthis to support their attacks on shipping, while Washington and Gulf states have accused Iran of supplying the Houthis with drones and missiles.
Iranian officials insist that the militants they support acted independently and have praised the Houthis for the attack but have rejected U.S. claims that Tehran was involved in planning or supplying weapons to the group.
However, maritime security experts have long commented on the close link between the Behshad incident and Houthi attacks. According to information from MarineTraffic, after years of being almost stationary in the Red Sea, the ship sailed south on January 11, passing through the narrow Bab el-Mandab Strait and entering the Gulf of Aden.
The move was immediately followed by a series of attacks on ships in waters south of Yemen. The Gulf of Aden is larger, making it harder to detect and target ships there than in the less restrictive Red Sea.
The container ship Gibraltar Eagle was targeted on 15 January, followed two days later by the Genco Picardy, the Maersk Detroit on 24 January, and the Marlin Luanda on 26 January.
Gahagan noted that the connection between Behshad's actions and the attack was an incredible coincidence. “While I know Tehran continues to deny the ship's involvement in the current situation, this is a difficult issue to resolve,” he said.
Behshad's reported cyberattack follows a period of relative lull in attacks. Between February 2 and 19, around the time of the reported incident, the Bechshad was anchored near Djibouti, where China maintains a large naval base.
There were few effective attacks on ships during this period, with a sudden surge during ship tracking data showing its return to the Gulf of Aden.
These included the February 18 attack on the Rubymar, which subsequently became the first ship to be sunk in a Houthi attack. The next day, two more ships were attacked.
Gahagan said it was not implausible that the Behshad had a suspected role in discovering the vessel if Iran was supplying weapons to the Houthis. “Is it a stretch to imagine that they are also providing intelligence to the Houthis to support targeting analysis?” he asked.
However, it is unclear what action the U.S.-led coalition is willing to take against the controversial vessel as it attempts to counter the Houthi threat to shipping. The British Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for information on what it plans to do with such ships.
Martin Kelly, senior Middle East analyst at maritime security practice EOS Risk Group, said Tehran would likely view a physical or kinetic attack on Behshad as crossing a “red line.” Therefore, it is difficult for the United States and its allies to immediately respond to this threat.
“While I would like to see some kind of aggressive action against Behshad, I'm not sure we'll see that in the short term,” he said.
Additional reporting by John Paul Rathbone in London
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