Undaunted Houthis trade strikes again with U.S., allies in tense Red Sea

​U.S. forces conducted a third round of airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen on Tuesday, Pentagon officials said, and a missile launched by the Iran-backed group hit another commercial vessel in the Red Sea.

U.S. Central Command said the American strikes targeted Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile capabilities in the early morning hours. It was a direct response to a Houthi missile attack Monday that struck an American-owned cargo ship.

About nine hours after the U.S. strike, the Houthis launched an anti-ship missile that hit the Malta-flagged bulk carrier Zografia in the Red Sea.

No one was injured in that attack, nor was anyone hurt in the Houthi assault Monday on the U.S.-owned cargo ship. In both instances, the vessels continued on their voyages.

On the diplomatic track, the Associated Press reported that President Biden is expected to soon announce plans as soon as Wednesday to designate the Houthi rebels once again as “global terrorists.” Mr. Biden had reversed former President Trump’s move to designate the group as terrorists, made in the last days of Mr. Trump’s term, justifying it as a way to accelerate international humanitarian aid to Yemenis devastated by the country’s civil war and to promote peace talks that were then underway.

The reversal may carry a political price. Conservative Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, said the expected move showed the folly of the administration’s original decision: “Removing [the Houthis] from the list of terror organizations was a deadly mistake and another failed attempt to appease the [Iranian] Ayatollah,” Mr. Cotton said in a statement late Tuesday. “Joe Biden’s weakness and poor judgment continue to put our security at risk.”

The frantic events since Thursday, when the U.S. and Britain first struck dozens of Houthi positions across Yemen, have turned one of the world’s most strategically vital waterways into a chaotic, violent scene that many major shipping lines refuse to enter.

Pentagon officials revealed Tuesday that Navy SEALs mounted a daring operation late last week to intercept Iranian-made missile components destined for the Houthis. Two SEALs were lost at sea during the mission, officials said.

With the Houthis regularly firing missiles after repeated American airstrikes, top Biden administration officials warned that the consequences for global commerce could be severe.

“The reason it’s so important there is … 15% of commercial traffic is going through that strait every single day [and] 30% of the world’s container ships,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNBC on Tuesday. “We’re seeing international repercussions for these attacks. Thousands of ships have had to reroute. Go, move around and away from the Suez Canal. It’s adding costs to everyone. Insurance costs are going up. Shipping times are going up.

“That means that whatever is being shipped is getting more expensive,” he said. “This has been an attack on international commerce, international shipping, not an attack on Israel, not an attack on the United States.”

Indeed, maritime security analysts said the whirlwind of events in the region and the unpredictability of the Houthi strikes created a uniquely dangerous scenario.

“Just because nothing has happened, or nothing serious has happened yet, [such as] crew being harmed … next time they hit a vessel, that might well just happen,” Jakob P. Larsen, head of maritime safety and security at the Baltic and International Maritime Council, said during a recent online forum on the Red Sea crisis.

“Because all of a sudden, you have a container with dangerous cargo that is hit. A fire breaks out, and you have a catastrophic event unfolding in the southern Red Sea, and the same goes for tanker ships,” he said. “Once you start to set off explosions on ships, it’s just inherently risky and you cannot control exactly what will happen.”

The Biden administration has struggled mightily to prevent the intense fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza from expanding into a broader war pitting the U.S. and Israel against Iran and its string of regional allies, including the Houthis.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, addressing the annual global gathering at Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, said the latest round of strikes and counterstrikes is making that job harder.

“We have to guard against and be vigilant against the possibility that in fact, rather than heading towards de-escalation, we are on a path of escalation that we have to manage,” Mr. Sullivan said, according to a dispatch from The Associated Press.

He said the Houthi attacks on shipping amounted to an “all hands on deck” problem that the U.S. and its allies must address together to protect the global economy.

Back-and-forth attacks

The Houthis have launched nearly 30 attacks on commercial shipping over the past two months. Houthi leaders have said their Red Sea campaign is retaliation against Israel for its war in the Gaza Strip, though many of the ships targeted seemingly have no connection to the Jewish state. U.S. and British leaders reject the idea that the Houthis’ campaign is directly related to Israel, and they say the rebel group is recklessly targeting commercial ships and impeding international commerce.

Houthi rebels have also targeted U.S. military assets. On Sunday, the Houthis fired a missile toward the USS Laboon, a warship traveling through the southern Red Sea. The missile was shot down and did not cause any damage or injuries, U.S. officials said.

After weeks of public warnings, U.S. and British forces struck Houthi positions in Yemen on Thursday. They hit 28 locations and destroyed more than 60 Houthi targets during the initial round of bombings, Pentagon officials said.

The U.S. launched a follow-up strike on Friday that hit a Houthi radar site.

U.S. forces also are trying to stop fresh weapons from reaching Houthi positions in Yemen. On Thursday, U.S. forces seized a small ship sailing near the coast of Somalia. CENTCOM said the vessel was loaded with Iranian-made “propulsion, guidance, and warheads for Houthi medium range ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles, as well as air defense associated components.”

“Initial analysis indicates these same weapons have been employed by the Houthis to threaten and attack innocent mariners on international merchant ships transiting in the Red Sea,” CENTCOM said in a statement Tuesday.

It was the first time the Navy had seized Iranian-manufactured ballistic missile and cruise missile components since November 2019, officials said.

The mission came at a cost. Two SEALs previously reported as being lost at sea were directly involved with the mission, officials said.

“We are conducting an exhaustive search for our missing teammates,” said Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, CENTCOM commander.

The disappearance of two sailors at sea was revealed last week, but details were not clear until Tuesday. The first SEAL was knocked into the water by high waves while climbing up the side of a vessel, according to AP. The other SEAL jumped into the water to try to rescue his comrade.

U.S. forces later sank the small ship. The fate of its 14 crew members wasn’t entirely clear.

“Disposition of the 14 dhow crew members is being determined in accordance with international law,” CENTCOM said in a statement.