The United States Has Launched an International Operation to Protect International Shipping from Iranian-Backed Houthi Rebels in Yemen

Operation Prosperity Guardian has been launched by the United States and its allies in the Red Sea to protect international shipping from attacks on merchant vessels by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Houthis, who operate in northern Yemen, have been launching drone and missile attacks and even committed hijackings against merchant vessels in the vital waterway, particularly those in transit to Israel, as well as firing missiles toward the Jewish State and trying to attack American naval vessels with drones. Led by the U.S., the coalition of the willing is composed of over 20 Western allies and Indian Ocean States, most of which have not disclosed publicly their contributions. The international effort is similar to the successful international operation against piracy from Islamists in Somalia in the 2010s. Another model was the 1987–1988 American naval escorts of oil shipping in the Persian Gulf during the Iraqi-Iranian War. Because the Red Sea is connected to the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal, thus avoiding much longer voyages around the Cape of Good Hope, much of the world’s trade transits this arm of the Indian Ocean between the Arabian Peninsula and the northeastern coast of Africa. Today, U.S. forces sank some Houthi boats in the Red Sea after an attack on merchant ship. Yemen has been in a multi-sided civil war for several years, with the Shi’ite Houthis as the main rebels against the internationally recognized government of the Arab State, and Islamist Sunni terrorists, such as al-Qaeda, also participating. Meanwhile, American troops continue to retaliate against Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria who have been attacking them frequently for months, as they have occasionally over the last few years.