U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Jan. 10 that “consequences” are coming for the Houthi movement in Yemen for its attacks on commercial shipping in the neighboring Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
After a meeting with his counterparts in Bahrain, Mr. Blinken told reporters that their discussions focused on the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas and ensuring that the conflict doesn’t spread to other areas of the Middle East. In light of these efforts to contain the Gaza conflict, Mr. Blinken said it’s “particularly important that we respond when we see something like the aggression coming from the Houthis that continues to be repeated, directed at shipping in the Red Sea.”
The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, are a Zaydi Shiite movement that has intermittently fought with Yemen’s internationally recognized government since 2004. While the Yemeni conflict has waned in recent months with talks of a ceasefire in the country, the Houthis have turned their attention to the ongoing Israel–Hamas conflict, launching missile and drone attacks intended to hinder the Israeli side. As part of their efforts against Israel, the Houthis have also repeatedly attacked merchant ships that they believe are connected to the Israeli side.
“There have been hundreds of attacks now since November on shipping in the Red Sea affecting more than 40 countries tied to ships with 40 different countries,” Mr. Blinken told reporters on Jan. 10. “And we had the biggest attack [of] missiles just yesterday.”
The U.S. Central Command, the military command that oversees U.S. military operations throughout the Middle East, reported that U.S. and British warships and U.S. fighter aircraft intercepted and shot down 18 explosive-laden one-way attack drones, two anti-ship cruise missiles, and an anti-ship ballistic missile fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen toward merchant vessels transiting the Red Sea on Jan. 9.
US Consulting With Allies on Next Steps
The Jan. 9 drone and missile barrage comes after the Biden administration issued a joint statement with several other allied nations on Jan. 3, condemning the Houthi attacks and warning of consequences should they continue.
During Mr. Blinken’s remarks to the press on Jan. 10, a reporter asked whether the United States and its allies have determined that “consequences have to turn into action.”
“Look, I’m not going to telegraph or preview anything that might happen,” he said. “All I can tell you is, again, we’ve made clear, we’ve been clear with more than 20 other countries that if this continues as it did yesterday, there will be consequences. And I’m going to leave it at that.”
Speaking separately at a White House press conference on Jan. 10, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, “We’re going to continue to coordinate and consult closely with our allies and partners about the appropriate next steps should these attacks continue.”
Consequences for Iran?
The United States has long suspected Iran of arming and funding the Houthi rebels as a proxy force to advance Iranian interests in the Middle East. In his Jan. 10 remarks to the press, Mr. Blinken said the Houthis have been “abetted by Iran with technology, equipment, intelligence, information” in their latest attacks targeting merchant ships.When asked whether the consequences the United States and its allies seek to impose for the recent attacks extend to the Iranian government, he said the United States has “repeatedly tried to make clear to Iran, as other countries have as well, that the support that they’re providing to the Houthis, including for these actions, needs to stop.”
The Iranian side has cheered the Houthi attacks but has denied arming the group or helping it plan its attacks.
The Biden administration did recently announce sanctions against a Yemeni financier and three exchange houses in Yemen and Turkey that they suspect have helped route funding to the Houthis. The U.S. Treasury Department stated that the Yemeni and Turkish entities are connected to Sa’id Al-Jamal, an Iranian financier with suspected ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, which the United States has designated a foreign terrorist organization.
