News - World: Denmark officially announced on Wednesday its withdrawal from deploying the frigate Iver Huitfeldt, targeted last March in the Red Sea, as part of a new mission for a NATO naval force.

The ministry clarified that the decision to retract the deployment of the frigate Iver Huitfeldt came after an earlier proposal for the ship to act as the lead vessel in the second half of 2024.

"The issues faced by the crew of the frigate Iver Huitfeldt during its mission in the Red Sea remain unresolved," Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said.

"When we decide to send Danish soldiers, it is essential to provide them with the best conditions for success, and we will not send a combat frigate primarily where we had previously offered a frigate as the leader of the NATO Maritime Group from July 11 to November 5," Poulsen added.

The frigates Iver Huitfeldt and Niels Juel had been expected to take turns as the flagships of NATO’s Standing Maritime Group One North Sea and Baltic Sea, between July 11 and Nov. 5.

Today, Denmark officially apologizes for the new NATO mission, due to the unresolved issue that arose in the Red Sea, resulting in Danish frigates ending up with only symbolic participation from the pier!

Significantly, Denmark urgently announced last March that it would withdraw the destroyer Iver Huitfeldt just a month after it participated in the American coalition from the conflict zone off the Bab al-Mandab Strait, claiming that the withdrawal of the destroyer was due to a technical malfunction.

Meanwhile, more than one military source in Sana'a confirmed that the Danish destroyer had been subjected to more than one undisclosed attack by the Yemeni navy, about a week after its operations began on March 9 last year, followed by another attack that caused significant damage and rendered it inoperable, according to the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.

Commenting on this, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, member of the Supreme Political Council, considered the announcement a new achievement for the Yemeni Naval Forces.

However, the Danish narrative itself appeared contradictory, as Reuters quoted the commander of the destroyer, Sune Lund, upon its arrival in Denmark, stating that it had suffered a malfunction in its weapon systems following a drone attack by Sana'a Naval Forces, while Danish media attributed the withdrawal to a technical fault that affected the destroyer's vital air defense system.

Yemenis have declared their open support for Palestine’s struggle against the Israeli occupation since the regime launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 7 after the territory’s Palestinian resistance movements carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.

More than 38,200 Palestinians have lost their lives since the Israeli regime launched its bloodiest-ever military offensive on Gaza in early October.

The Yemeni Armed Forces have said they won’t stop retaliatory strikes.

The maritime attacks have forced some of the world’s biggest shipping and oil companies to suspend transit through one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes.

Tankers are instead adding thousands of miles to international shipping routes by sailing around the continent of Africa rather than going through the Suez Canal.