In the Red Sea, Houthi Attacks Force the U.S. to Mull a Tougher Response

Multilateral efforts to protect shipping in the Red Sea from Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen will struggle to prevent attacks in the short term, which will increase pressure on the United States to respond with more escalatory actions that it seeks to avoid. On Dec. 18, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the creation of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a new multilateral task force designed to protect commercial shipping from increased attacks by Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi militant group by "bringing together multiple countries [including] the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain." On Dec. 9, Houthis announced they would begin targeting all merchant ships heading to Israel via the Red Sea in protest of Israel's ongoing military campaign in Gaza. Since then, the Iran-backed militant group has conducted at least 10 attacks on commercial vessels transiting the region, severely disrupting maritime trade. In response to the ongoing...