US forces struck an anti-ship missile in Houthi-held Yemen that they said was ready to fire, hours after the Iran-backed rebels caused a fire on a British tanker in the Gulf of Aden with a similar munition.

US and British forces have launched joint strikes aimed at reducing the Huthis’ ability to target vessels transiting the key Red Sea trade route — attacks the rebels say are in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Washington has also carried out a series of unilateral air raids, but the Houthis have vowed to continue their attacks.

The US military’s Central Command, CENTCOM, said it had carried out another strike early Saturday on a Huthi “anti-ship missile aimed into the Red Sea and which was prepared to launch.

“Forces subsequently struck and destroyed the missile in self-defence,” it said on social media platform X.