US Republican Senator Dan Sullivan has called on the Biden administration to threaten Iran with sinking its ships if its Yemeni proxy continues attacks against American vessels in the Red Sea.
“Tell Iran that the next Houthi missile or drone launched at an American ship will result in the sinking of Iran’s spy ships that target our Navy,” Senator Sullivan (R-AK) wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden on Friday.
Pointing out that US attacks on Houthi targets have not deterred the Iran-backed US-designated group against attacking commercial ships, he argued that the only way to stop the Houthis’ assaults is letting Iran know that it would face direct consequences.
He referred to a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, citing General Eric Kurilla, the Commander of US Central Command, as saying that that recent US strikes on Iranian proxies in the region “sent a very strong deterrent message.”
Kurilla, however, said Iran was not deterred from assisting Houthi strikes on US military and civilian targets, emphasizing that “Iranian spy ships are providing the Houthis with targeting information to sink American ships and kill US sailors and Marines.”
“Yet, Iran is facing zero consequences for this collusion... They are not paying the cost,” he said.
“As General Kurilla also noted, however, 'deterrence is always temporary’ and Houthi terrorists in Yemen have not been as effectively deterred,” Sullivan said in his letter. “If we ever expect Tehran to call off its terrorist proxies and make deterrence more than a temporary respite, Iran must be made to pay a price.”
Last week, the Houthis struck a commercial vessel, killing three of its crew members. In a separate attack two days later, American forces also shot down 28 drones and missiles.
During the hearing, Sullivan suggested Kurilla could order attacks to sink Iranian vessels after such an event, even thoughno US or allied vessels were damaged. Kurilla said that Biden would have to issue an order for such an operation.
Sullivan asked the CENTCOM commander if he had recommended sinking Iranian ships to Biden. Kurilla answered, “I provide options ranging everything from cyber to kinetic and I also identify the risk of escalation and all of those options.”
“In fact, the Houthis grow bolder by the day,” Sullivan said in his letter.
On Thursday, Iran-backed Houthis vowed to expand their operations beyond the Red Sea to block “Israel-linked ships” sailing through the Indian Ocean towards the Cape of Good Hope. This is the route many commercial vessels have been forced to take in the past few months, since the Houthis, armed by Iranian missiles and drones, have effectively closed the more common, far shorter path between Asia and Europe through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.