The British newspaper "Financial Times" revealed on Sunday that the Iranian commercial ship "Behshad" in the Gulf of Aden is playing an espionage role on behalf of the Yemeni Houthi group.

The newspaper says that the “Behshad” ship, which superficially looks like a regular cargo carrier, moved from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden last January, with the escalation of attacks on Western ships in the vital waterway off Yemen.

She also adds: “Since then, Behshad has followed an unconventional, slow, and winding path around those waters near the entrance to the Red Sea, and experts have also noted a decrease in Houthi attacks over the past month, when Behshad was apparently out of action.” .

According to the newspaper, John Gahagan, president of Sedna Global, a company specializing in maritime risks, said that for a supposed cargo ship, the behavior of “Behshad,” which is registered in Iran and flies its flag, was “very unusual.”

He added about its movements and links to the attacks: “It raises big questions about its role in the current crisis. If it does not provide the Houthi regime with intelligence information about ship movements, what is it doing?”

After years of almost standing still in the Red Sea, the Iranian ship sailed last January 11, through the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait into the Gulf of Aden, according to information from the “Marine Traffic” ship tracking website.

Immediately after this move, a series of attacks occurred on ships in those waters in southern Yemen, according to the Financial Times, which noted that “the larger size of the Gulf of Aden makes it more difficult to detect and target ships there than in the smaller Red Sea.”< /p>

Speculations have increased about the involvement of the "Behshad" ship in providing information to the Houthis since the attack that occurred last Wednesday on the "True Confidence" ship, which was carrying steel and trucks from China to Saudi Arabia, resulting in the killing of 3 members of its crew.

The newspaper, citing experts, states that “Behshad” was 43 nautical miles away when the “True Confidence” ship was hit.

This attack came after 6 other attacks in the Gulf of Aden or at the entrance to the Red Sea over a period of only 15 days.

Experts also point out that the pace of Houthi attacks decreased last February, after the cyber attack on “Behshad” that was reported by the American network “NBC News”.

Data from ship-tracking website Marine Traffic from around that time shows that the ship spent more than two weeks away from its normal sailing area.

US officials accused Iran of providing "tactical intelligence" to the Houthis to support its attacks on commercial ships. Iran denies providing information to the Houthis and insists that the group acts independently of it.

Since last November 19, the Houthi militia has carried out more than 60 attacks with drones and missiles on commercial ships in this internationally important shipping lane, claiming that they are linked to “Israel” or heading to its ports, in support of the Gaza Strip, which has been witnessing a violent Israeli war for 7 days. October.

Since the beginning of this year, the Washington-led coalition has launched raids on “Houthi sites” in various regions of Yemen, in response to its attacks in the Red Sea.