The recent Houthi missile attack shows the limited scope of US-led airstrikes in Yemen

CNN
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last weeks US-led air strikes Airstrikes on Houthi rebel targets in Yemen have destroyed less than a third of the Iranian proxy group's overall offensive capabilities, with the group retaining most of its ability to hit ships in the Red Sea, a US official told CNN.

Despite a barrage of strikes last week, including 150 precision-guided munitions fired at nearly 30 sites, the Houthis still have about three-quarters of their ability to target commercial ships in international shipping lanes in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The official added.

That was clear on Monday, when A A Houthi missile hit a US-owned cargo ship In the Red Sea, what appears to be the first time that militants have succeeded in striking a ship owned or operated by the United States.

Last week's airstrike was as successful as planned — with the United States destroying or damaging 93% of the targets it selected — but some American officials privately acknowledged that it did little to hamper the Houthis' ability to continue striking international shipping.

One senior US official said of the strikes: “We have received the message and some deterioration but we expect a response and do not believe we have significantly hampered their military efforts.”

The limited scope of last week's operation illustrates the tightrope the Biden administration is treading in the Middle East, where tit-for-tat violence between groups backed by Iran, the United States and Israel escalates below the threshold of outright war.

Washington has carefully sought to avoid a situation in which attacks by the Houthis and other Iranian-backed groups escalate into a second front of the war between the two countries. Israel and the terrorist Hamas movement.

Since November, Houthi militants, who receive significant weapons and other support from Iran, have carried out dozens of attacks on international ships that the group says are in retaliation for Iran. Israel's war in Gaza. These attacks are disrupting global trade, forcing some of the world's largest shipping companies to avoid the waterway and instead add thousands of miles (and potentially millions of dollars) to international shipping routes by sailing around the continent of Africa instead of going through the Suez Canal. .

Senior Biden administration officials insist that Friday's operation against the Houthis was successful in achieving its goal: weakening the group's military capabilities.

“This was not a signaling exercise,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said during a news conference on Friday. “This was designed to disrupt and weaken the Houthis’ military capabilities,” he added.

The dozens of targets the United States struck on Friday — including command and control centers, munitions, launch systems, production facilities, and air defense radar systems — were chosen specifically to try to make it more difficult for the Houthis to strike ships in the Red Sea. Pentagon officials said. By design, there were few Houthi casualties.

“It wasn't necessarily about casualties as much as it was about degrading the capability,” Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims II, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a news conference last week. “This is designed solely to go after the ability to impede… freedom of navigation in international waters, and we are very confident that we have done a good job of this,” he added.

The UK, which took part in the strikes on Friday, insisted they were an act of “self-defence” aimed at “calming tensions and restoring stability in the region”.

New York times Reported for the first time Assessing damage caused by air strikes.

Declassified US intelligence shows that Iran is heavily involved in coordinating Houthi attacks on commercial and commercial vessels, including by providing information about cargo ships passing through the waterway.

US intelligence officials believe that Iran is carefully calibrating its response to Israel's war in Gaza, allowing and even encouraging its proxy groups to impose high costs on Israeli and US interests in the region – while refraining from activities that would spark a direct confrontation. With Iran itself.

American officials fear that one side may miscalculate, even if none of the main parties – Iran, Israel and the United States – want a broader war. This concern is particularly evident when it comes to the Houthis, who are deeply ideological in their hatred of Israel and are among the groups most operationally independent from Iranian proxy groups.

Analysts believe A Long-term closure The waterway connecting the Suez Canal could disrupt global supply chains and lead to higher prices for manufactured goods at a crucial moment in the world. The battle to beat inflation. The Suez Canal represents 10% to 15% of global tradeWhich includes oil exports, and 30% of the global container shipping volume.

“The United States should look to eliminate as many targets as it can identify on the Yemeni coast of the Sea of ​​Aden, as it did on the Red Sea coast,” said Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Middle East affairs. in the Trump administration and is now an analyst for ABC News. “There should be no radar, launch or storage sites remaining.”

President Joe Biden said Friday that he “will not hesitate to direct further actions to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.”