Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired two ballistic missiles at a United States Navy destroyer off the coast of Yemen early Monday morning.

On Sunday, just hours before the missiles were launched, the uss Mason had responded to a distress call from an Israel-linked commercial tanker in the Gulf of Aden.

Tanker seized: The Central Park tanker, managed by Zodiac Maritime Ltd, a London-based international ship management company owned by an Israeli family, issued a call for help, saying that “they were under attack from an unknown entity.”

The uss Mason and allied ships from a counter-piracy task force operating off the coast of Somalia responded to the call and approached the tanker, demanding that the attackers release the commercial ship.

“Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat,” the U.S. Central Command said in a statement. They added that uss Mason then “pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender.”

Yemen blames rebels: Yemen’s internationally recognized government blamed the seizure of the ship on rebels in a statement:

The Yemeni government has renewed its denunciation of the acts of maritime piracy carried out by the terrorist Houthi militias with the support of the Iranian regime, the most recent of which was the hijacking of the Central Park.

The attack occurred in part of the Gulf of Aden that is supposedly under the control of the Yemeni government and relatively far from Houthi-controlled territory. Somali pirates are not known to operate in the area.

Missiles fired: At 1:41 a.m. local time, two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen and landed near the uss Mason.

Both missiles fell 10 nautical miles short of the destroyer and landed in the water. U.S. Central Command said no damage was caused and no injuries occurred.

Yemen’s role: Incidents like this have been occurring more frequently since the Hamas terrorist group attacked Israel on October 7. This rising conflict in the Middle East was prophesied.

Because of its internationally strategic location, Yemen is certain to play major role in the events soon to unfold.

Learn more: Read “Iran Gets a Stranglehold on the Middle East.”