US military in talks to escort commercial ships in Red Sea amid attacks from Iranian-backed militants

By Katie Bo Lillis and Natasha Bertrand, CNN

Washington (CNN) — The US is considering beefing up protections for commercial ships around a vital Red Sea shipping route amid a series of recent missile attacks by Iran-backed Houthi militants operating out of Yemen, according to military officials.

The US has discussed ways to increase security in the area with members of the Combined Maritime Forces, a multi-national naval task force charged with protecting commercial shipping in the Red Sea. US officials have said publicly that discussions have centered on the possibility of escorting ships operating in the Red Sea and through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait into the Gulf of Aden — the narrow channel that separates Yemen and the Horn of Africa.

Seven members of the task force — made up of 39 nations that rotate command — have already offered to help, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told an audience at the Atlantic Council in Washington on Monday. US officials have declined to say which nations have stepped forward.

The discussions about bolstering the task force reflect growing concern in the region over the Iran-backed Houthis’ interference with the vital channel, through which millions of barrels of oil passes daily.

The Houthi rebels, who are funded and trained by Iran, have repeatedly attacked commercial ships with drones and missiles in recent weeks, and in November seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship, taking its crew hostage. They have also launched missiles toward Israel, one of which was intercepted by a US Navy destroyer in October.

On Sunday, a US Navy destroyer shot down three Houthi drones amid a sustained missile attack on several commercial ships that lasted several hours.

1980s ‘Tanker War’

There is some high-profile precedence for the kind of escort protection that US officials are currently debating. In the 1980s, the US launched Operation Earnest Will during the so-called “Tanker War” between Iran and Iraq to escort Kuwaiti vessels in the Arabian Gulf and through the Strait of Hormuz.

For now, senior defense officials do not believe that striking the Houthis in Yemen is the appropriate course of action, because they do not want to see the situation escalate further and do not currently have evidence that the missiles the Houthis have launched in recent weeks have specifically targeted US assets in the region, defense officials told CNN. Still, all options are on the table and the US reserves the right to respond at the time and place of its choosing, a defense official emphasized.

Another reason that the US is moderating its response is that it views the spate of attacks as opportunistic, rather than part of a strategic effort by Tehran to escalate the conflict, according to multiple US officials who spoke to CNN.

Striking ships that the group can tie to Israel in their propaganda allows Houthi leaders to claim that they are fighting back against Israel, as well as ensure that Iranian support keeps flowing, said , the former national intelligence manager for Iran at the CIA.

“Houthi participation in the attacks on Israel allows them to show that they have skin in the resistance game, help divert Israeli resources from Gaza, demonstrate hostility against the US, and send a warning message to Gulf countries,” Roule said.

There is also a strong ideological component to Houthi attacks, he said, in part because the Palestinian cause is “widely popular” in Yemen.

“The ability of Houthi commanders to boast to their tribal followers that they conducted attacks against Israel and the United States enhances their stature within the movement,” he said.

Houthi weaponry become more sophisticated

US officials have been closely tracking iterative improvements in the range, accuracy and lethality of the Houthi’s domestically produced missiles. Initially, home-grown Houthi weapons were largely assembled with Iranian components smuggled into Yemen in pieces, according to one official familiar with US intelligence.

But as the Houthis have repeatedly reverse-engineered Iranian weapons, they have made progressive small modifications that have added up to big overall improvements, this person said. And the use of medium-range ballistic missiles by the Houthis against Israel is new.

Still, the kind of anti-ship ballistic missiles they are firing at ships are still relatively primitive and “couldn’t possibly have hit the ships in the dark.” The anti-ship cruise missiles are more capable and effective, but even they “lack the punch to sink anything,” this person said.

Still, US officials are concerned that the activity risks disrupting the international flow of commerce going through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, an incredibly busy channel.

During the Tanker War in the 1980s, Kuwaiti-owned tankers escorted by US military ships were reflagged under the US flag, a deeply controversial move at the time that was used to get around US law prohibiting navy ships from escorting civilian vessels flying a foreign flag.

There are no current plans to reflag any of the vessels the US and its partners escort this time, according to a US military official.

CNN’s Haley Britzky contributed to this story.

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