The United States has struck Yemen-based Houthi targets for the third time as international tensions continue to rise in the Red Sea.
The Pentagon said that the American strikes were said to have destroyed four missiles that posed a threat to the region. The attacks mark the third day in a row that the rebels have targeted passing ships with their missiles.
The US military said that its strike against Houthi ballistic missiles in Yemen was carried out on Tuesday. However, the latest incident against the Iran-backed rebel group left the White House struggling to find a way to stop the terrorist group from disrupting shipping lanes that are considered critical for global trade.
The Tuesday strikes destroyed the Houthi missiles that the Pentagon said posed an imminent threat to merchant vessels as well as Navy ships that travel through the Red Sea and nearby waters.
However, the pre-emptive American strike also came on the third day in a row that the Houthi rebels have defied the Biden administration and its allies. It fired missiles at passing ships and damaged a Greek-owned cargo vessel on the same day, as per the New York Times.
The Iran-backed terrorist group also damaged an American-owned commercial ship on Monday after it attempted to strike a US warship the day prior. In a statement, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said they are not looking for war or expanding the situation.
The American official said they will continue to defend against the Houthi rebels' strikes and counter them as appropriate. The situation leaves the administration with difficult choices as President Joe Biden could order another barrage of strikes against the rebels' air defenses, weapon depots, and facilities.
However, analysts have argued that doing so would risk widening the war in the region even more. The other choice that the Democratic leader has is settling for more limited tit-for-tat exchanges, similar to the Tuesday incident, but that would not necessarily resolve the current threat in the region.
Seizure of Weapons
The development comes after a team of Navy SEALs that lost two sailors overboard while searching a small boat off the coast of Somalia discovered Iranian missile parts. These equipment were supposedly bound for Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to NBC News.
Despite the Navy SEAL team losing two crew members, they went on to find armaments, including ballistic missile and cruise missile components. Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees the military in the Middle East and parts of Asia, said that the discovered arms were the same type that the Houthis have used to attack vessels in the Red Sea.
The seizure of the weapons followed US and UK strikes on Houthi positions in their attempts to prevent the Yemen-based rebels from targeting passing ships. CENTCOM said that the incident with the Navy SEALS highlighted the potential for the conflict to continue to spread and draw in Iran directly.
The discovery of the equipment happened as the Navy SEAL team was conducting a "flag verification." The Guardian said they executed a complex night-time boarding and had support from helicopters and drones.
