Iranian warship enters Red Sea amid heightened tension

TEHRAN -- The Iranian Navy's Alborz destroyer entered the Red Sea on Monday after passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait amid rising tensions in the region, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

The Alborz destroyer was part of the Iranian Navy's 94th flotilla of warships, said the report, adding that the Iranian Navy's flotillas have been conducting missions on the high seas since 2009 to ensure shipping security and fight piracy.

The development came as the Yemen-based Houthi group said on Sunday that 10 of its fighters were killed by US Navy forces on the Red Sea.

Also on Sunday, the US Central Command said its naval forces responded to a distress call from a merchant boat in the Red Sea that reported being under a Houthi attack, sank three Houthi boats, and killed all their crews.

The Houthis have launched about two dozen attacks on commercial vessels in recent weeks, primarily near Bab el-Mandeb, claiming these attacks are "in solidarity with the Palestinians" facing Israeli air strikes in Gaza.