WASHINGTON – The Pentagon on Monday announced a new partnership to counter the growing number of attacks by Iranian proxies on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
The announcement by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin came days after two of the world’s largest shipping companies, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, announced they were pausing operations in the vital trade route following repeated drone and ballistic missile strikes launched by Tehran-backed Houthi forces based in Yemen.
“This is an international challenge that demands collective action,” Austin said in a statement from Bahrain, adding: “The recent escalation in reckless Houthi attacks originating from Yemen threatens the free flow of commerce, endangers innocent mariners and violates international law.”
The US will be joined in the new coalition – dubbed “Operation Prosperity Guardian” by the Pentagon – by the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the Seychelles and Spain.
Some countries will conduct joint patrols while others provide intelligence support in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Other countries have also agreed to be involved in the operation but do not want to be publicly named, a defense official told the Associated Press.
The US Navy has already sent two of its guided-missile destroyers – the USS Carney and USS Mason – to patrol the Red Sea, which separates Egypt from Saudi Arabia.
That order followed a Dec. 3 attack in which Houthis struck three commercial vessels with missiles.
The USS Carney responded to the strikes, shooting down another three drones dispatched from Yemen in the process.
“These attacks represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security,” US Central Command said in a statement at the time. “They have jeopardized the lives of international crews representing multiple countries around the world.”
Iran-backed militias across the Middle East have upped the number of attacks on US ships, foreign and commercial vessels and American military personnel following the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7.
The US has yet to strike back at the Houthis operating in Yemen, nor has it targeted any of the jihadists’ weapons or other sites.
At a Monday press conference in Tel Aviv, Austin declined to answer when asked why a counterstrike had not taken place.
“This is an international problem,” he said, “and it deserves an international response.”