On Thursday, the US Department of Justice brought charges against four crew members of a boat on which Iranian weapons were seized off Somalia and were destined for the Houthis in Yemen.

The ministry said that the four people were detained by the US Navy in an operation carried out on January 11, during which they confiscated Iranian-made missile components on board.

The statement added that the weapons found were allegedly consistent with the weapons used by the Houthis in their recent attacks against American commercial and military ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The Houthi group in Yemen said yesterday, Thursday, that operations in the Red Sea will continue, and that the group will seek to escalate them.

The group said that ships owned by American and British individuals or entities, or those flying the flags of the United States and Britain, will be targeted in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Arabian Sea.

Before that, the US Department of Defense said that Houthi attacks had increased over the days.

The US Central Command announced the downing of six Houthi attack drones in the Red Sea.

She said that the military assessment before the interception confirmed that the aircraft were targeting American ships and coalition forces, and were posing an imminent threat.

The statement added that the Houthis later fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles towards the Gulf of Aden, where the two missiles hit a cargo tanker owned by the United Kingdom, causing minor injuries and damage.

This comes as the French army spokesman said in statements to Al-Arabiya channel that there is international attention to the seriousness of the threat posed by the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and that the deployed French frigates were able to shoot down several marches launched by the Houthis during the current week.

He added that France's deployment of defensive means there comes within the framework of the European Union's initiative to protect freedom of navigation in the region.