The Defense Department has recently tried to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea, a critical waterway through which 15% of global trade flows.
Since November 19, the Houthis have conducted at least 48 attacks against commercial shipping and naval vessels in and around the Red Sea, using anti-ship ballistic missiles, anti-ship cruise missiles, and unmanned aerial systems on surface vessels.
In response to these attacks, the U.S., in coordination with allies and partners, has taken military, diplomatic, and economic steps to impose costs on the Houthi leadership and degrade their ability to conduct attacks on commercial shipping. This includes increased maritime patrols in the area, with more than 20 countries joining the effort to safeguard commercial shipping.
On Saturday, U.S. strikes hit Houthi targets that include underground weapons storage facilities, missile storage facilities, unmanned aerial systems, air defense systems, radars, and a helicopter.
Over the past few weeks, U.S. forces have struck over 230 targets in Houthi-controlled Yemen, likely destroying hundreds of Houthi weapons.
In addition to the Defense Department’s efforts, U.S. forces have also interdicted Iranian vessels carrying lethal aid to Yemen. The U.S. has made it clear to Iran that it holds it accountable for attacks by its partners and proxies and believes Iranian leaders are aware of the consequences should these attacks result in U.S. casualties.
These attacks have affected the interests of more than 55 nations and threatened the free flow of commerce through the Red Sea, a bedrock of the global economy. They have prompted more than a dozen major shipping operators to suspend transit of the Red Sea, causing a spike in insurance rates for vessels in the region and putting the lives of innocent mariners and U.S. service members at risk.
The attacks are also driving up prices and causing delivery delays in critical humanitarian items, such as food and medicine, in places where they’re needed most, adversely affecting people in need of assistance around the world, including residents of Sudan, Ethiopia, and in Yemen itself.
As U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East policy Daniel B. Shapiro testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism,
It’s clear that these Houthi attacks represent an international problem that affects all nations committed to the exercise of navigational freedoms and the free flow of commerce. These attacks, which affect the entire region and nations across the globe, cannot go unchallenged. And this problem demands a broad-based and collective response,
He goes on to say
We’ve made it very clear to Iran that we hold it accountable for attacks by its partners and proxies and believe Iranian leaders are aware of the consequences should these attacks result in U.S. casualties.
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