For the past two months, Iranian-backed Houthi militants have been launching assaults on Western commercial ships off the coastline of Yemen with minimal consequences. The aggressors are employing rockets and drones in the attacks as they conduct air and sea raids to seize cargo vessels and hold the crews hostage.
The Shiite Houthis, who represent a rebel insurgency against the Sunni Yemeni government in a civil war that has persisted for eight years, have claimed responsibility for these attacks, which they say are in protest of Israel’s defensive war against Hamas.
Recently, there have been signs of the bloody Yemeni civil war winding down due to Saudi efforts to negotiate a peace agreement with the Houthis. For this reason, Saudi Arabia is not expected to get involved in the escalating situation in the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, where the Houthis have carried out at least eight assaults from Yemen on major shipping vessels.
These attacks are causing large-scale complications for global supply chains. Due to approximately 12% of global shipping traversing the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, significant shipments face delays or cancellations, and major shipping companies have announced halts on shipping through the Red Sea. This situation has led to price hikes in essential commodities such as crude oil.
This past Friday, AP Møller-Mærsk, the operator of the world’s second-largest container shipping fleet, announced that it had directed all vessels scheduled to transit through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait to “pause their journey until further notice.”
Because of the ongoing economic and national security risks, the United States and Arab allies in the region are set to declare the establishment of an extended maritime defense coalition.
Further, the US is engaged in ongoing efforts to persuade China to join an expanded maritime protection force based in Bahrain.
Despite the downing of expensive aerial vehicles, American forces in the area have not yet retaliated as the Biden administration is concerned about provoking Iran into a broader conflict.
The USS Carney has been employed to intercept numerous Red Sea marine attacks from Yemen, but it has not been able to stop every assault, with some of the Houthi artillery utterly destroying its targets. Recently, the Iranian proxies managed to strike a ship owned by British Petroleum, causing the company to reroute all commerce through the strait.
Up to now, British, French, and US naval forces have intercepted drone and missile strikes by the Houthis. Despite this, the Houthis have declared their intent to continue attacking any ships bound for Israeli ports, irrespective of their nationality.
Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will be traveling to the Middle East this week, although the Pentagon has not commented directly on what US policy regarding the Houthi attacks is expected to look like. However, Secretary Austin had just last week authorized sending three additional US destroyers to the Mediterranean Sea, extending American operations in the region in the wake of the October 7th assault on Israel.
