US Working with Allies on Solution to Stop Houthi Red Sea Attacks

(Bloomberg) —

The US is working with allies to create a multinational effort to protect ships passing through the Red Sea in an effort to stem a surge in attacks by Houthi fighters that has provoked unease about commercial trade passing through one of the world’s most vital waterways.

An announcement could come any day following weeks of consultations about the violence, which began after Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel struck back in the Gaza strip. The Houthis — based in Yemen and backed by Iran — vowed to target Israel’s assets until it abandons its campaign to destroy Hamas.

“We believe that the freedom of navigation and international waters is a rule of the international system that should be upheld,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, the Pentagon’s No. 2 official, said in an interview Wednesday with Bloomberg News “It’s an international problem. It’s going to take an international solution, and we’re working with allies and partners on that.”

Iran’s Defense Minister Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani called the plan “foolish” and said the US “will face tremendous problems” if they go ahead with it, the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency reported on Thursday. 

“No one can maneuver in a region that we dominate,” he added.

In a briefing earlier in the week, Major General Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Defense Department would have more detail “in the near future” on “implementing a maritime task force.” While Hicks said an international response is coming, she didn’t give a timeline or describe it as task force. 

Biden administration officials face a dilemma in striking back at the spate of attacks at sea. They have said they don’t want to be provoked into a broader Mideast war sought by Iran and its proxies, including the Houthis.

“The US has taken a defensive posture on this stuff and is trying to ensure that they don’t succeed in doing anything significant that would in fact force a response,” said Gerald Feierstein, a veteran diplomat and former US ambassador to Yemen who is now at the Middle East Institute. “The Houthis may very much want to push the situation and force the US to respond aggressively, because they think that that will burnish their status as a member in good standing of the axis of resistance.”

The issue has become urgent amid a spike in attacks on ships in the Red Sea, which handles about 12% of global trade. The effort to deter further Houthi attacks on shipping was among topics discussed by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

In one of the Red Sea attacks, armed guards on a ship — the Ardmore Encounter — traded fire with attackers on a small boat, days after another fuel tanker called the Strinda, which was hired by Eni SpA and heading to Italy, was struck by a missile in the Red Sea earlier this week. 

The Houthis said they targeted the vessel because it was destined for Israel, and port information shows it was due to go there early next year.

The Houthis are still holding a car carrier called the Galaxy Leader that they seized on Nov. 19. That ship is part-owned by a company of Israeli businessman Rami Ungar.

The US says an expanded military force in the region will help deter future Houthi attacks. But some Republican lawmakers have said the Biden administration has been too slow and cautious in striking back at the Houthis and other Iran-backed militants. 

“The question is that I think Iran is looking at is, do we have the resolve?” Representative Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said last week on CNN.

© 2023 Bloomberg L.P.

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