The US is considering beefing up protections for commercial ships around a vital Red Sea shipping route amid a series of recent missile attacks by Iran-backed Houthi militants operating out of Yemen, according to military officials.
The US has discussed ways to increase security in the area with members of the Combined Maritime Forces, a multi-national naval task force charged with protecting commercial shipping in the Red Sea. US officials have said publicly that discussions have centered on the possibility of escorting ships operating in the Red Sea and through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait into the Gulf of Aden — the narrow channel that separates Yemen and the Horn of Africa.
Seven members of the task force — made up of 39 nations that rotate command — have already offered to help, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told an audience at the Atlantic Council in Washington on Monday. US officials have declined to say which nations have stepped forward.
The discussions about bolstering the task force reflect growing concern in the region over the Iran-backed Houthis’ interference with the vital channel, through which millions of barrels of oil passes daily.
The Houthi rebels, who are funded and trained by Iran, have repeatedly attacked commercial ships with drones and missiles in recent weeks, and in November seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship, taking its crew hostage. They have also launched missiles toward Israel, one of which was intercepted by a US Navy destroyer in October.
On Sunday, a US Navy destroyer shot down three Houthi drones amid a sustained missile attack on several commercial ships that lasted several hours.
There is some high-profile precedence for the kind of escort protection that US officials are currently debating. In the 1980s, the US launched Operation Earnest Will during the so-called “Tanker…
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