January 22, 2021
The Islamic Republic has had a spy ship positioned in the Red Sea for more than three years, giving help to the Houthi rebels in Yemen, among other things.
Innocent shipping is exposed to terrorist attacks, covert military action and the threat of piracy. And watching every vessel that passes is an Iranian ship according to USNI News, the website of the US Naval Institute, a private organization.
Officially Saviz is a merchant ship, but USNI News says it is most likely a covert Pasdar forward base. Several open-source reports over the last several years and officials of Saudi Arabia have charged the ship is being operated by the Pasdaran.
The website said, “There is no legitimate civilian explanation for the action, and uniformed men have been seen onboard. On the ship’s deck are Boston Whaler type launches, a boat type popular with the [Pasdaran] and not in keeping with Saviz’s civilian design.”
The ship is anchored off the Yemen coast at the southern end of the Red Sea, near where the Bab el-Mandeb Strait forms a natural choke point. Automated Information System transmissions and analysis of commercial satellite images show the ship has barely moved in the past three years, USNI News said.
Some attacks in the area can be tied to the civil war in Yemen, where Iran is backing and supplying Houthi forces. In 2018, two Saudi tankers were attacked near the Bab el-Mandeb, apparently by the Houthis. The Saudis may have foiled another attack in March this year. And in October 2016, the US Navy destroyer USS Mason fired missiles to intercept other missiles fired at it and the Navy’s forward staging base USS Ponce.
Saviz was in a position to play a role in some of the attacks, feeding intelligence to Iran and its Houthi allies in Yemen, Saudis have said.
Most recently, on Christmas Day a sea mine was struck by a cargo ship passing not far from the Saviz. Saudi state television gave the news and blamed Houthi rebels in Yemen, though the Saviz could have been involved.
USNI News said Saviz will likely remain in place for the foreseeable future, hiding behind its civilian identity. From there the ship can provide Iran and its allies with real-time intelligence on every tanker, merchant vessel and warship that passes.