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CNN) - According to military authorities, the United States of America is thinking about stepping up its defenses against commercial ships traversing the crucial Red Sea trade route in light of a recent spate of missile assaults by Houthi terrorists operating out of Yemen with Iranian support.
With members of the Combined Maritime Forces, an international maritime task force tasked with defending commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the United States discussed measures to improve security in the area.
The potential of escorting ships operating in the Red Sea as they crossed the Bab al-Mandab Strait and entered the Gulf of Aden—the small route dividing Yemen from the Horn of Africa—was the subject of negotiations, according to statements made public by US officials.
The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told an audience at the Atlantic Council in Washington on Monday that seven members of the naval force, which is made up of 39 nations that rotate in command, have already offered aid. The US authorities did not reveal who these members were.
The behavior of the Iranian-backed Houthis in the crucial waterway, through which millions of barrels of oil travel every day, is causing significant anxiety in the region, as seen by discussions about bolstering the role of the naval force.
The Houthis, who receive funding and training from Iran, have been using drones and missiles to strike commercial ships on a regular basis in recent weeks. In November, they captured a cargo ship that was connected to Israel and took its crew captive.
In October, a US Navy destroyer intercepted one of the missiles fired by the Houthis at Israel.
During a multi-hour missile assault on ships on Sunday, a US destroyer shot down three Houthi drones.
The 1980s' "Tanker War"
As part of the so-called "tanker war" between Iran and Iraq, the US launched Operation Earnest Will in the 1980s to escort Kuwaiti ships into the Gulf and through the Strait of Hormuz. This protection has some noteworthy precedents, which US officials are currently debating.
Senior defense officials currently do not think that attacking the Houthis in Yemen is a suitable course of action because they do not want to see the situation worsen and because there is currently no proof that the missiles fired by the Houthis in recent weeks were specifically aimed at US assets in the area. US Department of Defense to CNN.
Nonetheless, according to a Defense Ministry official, all options are still open, and the US has the right to react when and where it is appropriate.
According to multiple US officials who spoke with CNN, the United States is also tempering its response because it sees the series of strikes as an act of opportunism rather than as a calculated move by Tehran to intensify the confrontation.
According to Norman Rolle, a former CIA officer in charge of Iran affairs, the group's propaganda linking ships to Israel through strikes enables Houthi leaders to assert that they are battling Israel in order to secure Iran's continuing backing for their cause.
According to Rolle, "The Houthis' participation in attacks on Israel allows them to demonstrate their involvement in the resistance game, help divert Israeli resources from Gaza, demonstrate hostility against the United States, and send a warning message to the Gulf states."
The former intelligence official noted that the Houthi attacks have a strong ideological component, part of which stems from Yemen's "overwhelming popularity" of the Palestinian cause.
Rolle continued: "The ability of Houthi leaders to brag to their tribal followers that they carried out attacks against Israel and the United States strengthens their position within the movement."
Houthi weaponry has improved in sophistication.
US officials are keeping a careful eye on the Houthi home-made rockets' continuous advancements in power, accuracy, and range.
According to an official familiar with U.S. intelligence, the Houthis' homemade weapons were first mostly put together using Iranian parts that were smuggled into Yemen in bits and pieces.
This person claimed that the Houthis' employment of intermediate-range ballistic missiles against Israel is novel, but that as they have repeatedly reverse-engineered Iranian weapons, they have made little, gradual adjustments that have resulted in significant overall advances.
The same official stated that although anti-ship cruise missiles are more powerful and effective, they "lack the ability to drown anything" and that their anti-ship ballistic missiles are still comparatively outdated. Additionally, the official claimed that the missiles "cannot hit ships in the dark."
The tremendously crowded Bab al-Mandab Strait is a major conduit for international trade, and US officials are worried that this action could threaten to interrupt that flow.
In the 1980s Tanker Wars, Kuwaiti-owned tankers accompanied by US military ships had their flag changed to the American flag. This controversial action was taken to get around a US regulation that forbade navy forces from accompanying civilian ships flying foreign flags.
According to a US military spokesman, there are currently no plans to change the flag of any of the ships that the US and its allies are escorting.
