Biden prepares vengeance strikes in response to Jordan deaths

Strike on drone station follows Red Sea attacks as US prepares response to assault on American forces in Jordan.

Armed supporters of Yemen's Houthi rebels rally in solidarity with Hamas in Sanaa on Thursday. Picture: AFP

US forces struck targets belonging to Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Thursday, continuing an effort to degrade the Iran-backed group’s military capabilities without triggering a broader war in the region.

US Central Command said it struck a Houthi drone ground control station as well as several of the group’s drones after determining they presented an “imminent threat” to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region.

The strikes come as the US prepares its response to a drone attack on Sunday that killed three American service members in Jordan. The enemy drone was launched from Iraq by a militia backed by Tehran and struck a US outpost.

The response to that attack could come as early as this weekend and is expected to unfold as a set of operations over several days, US defence officials said.

The US and its allies have carried out several rounds of airstrikes in response to the Houthis’ launching of hundreds of drones and missiles at ships transiting the Red Sea since November.

Last week, US forces shot down a ballistic missile fired toward the destroyer USS Carney from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen and destroyed a Houthi anti-ship missile that was prepared to be launched at shipping in the Red Sea.

The Houthis have said their latest campaign is aimed at pressuring Israel and the international community to end the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Analysts say their long-term goal is to seize territory beyond Yemen’s borders and ultimately control the Arabian Peninsula.

The US has so far failed to deter the battled-hardened Houthis or significantly reduce their military capabilities. With its audacious attacks, the rebel group has transformed itself from a marginal player among Iran-aligned forces into one of the Middle East’s most formidable militant groups.

Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said on Thursday that American and British strikes “have no effect and will not limit the capabilities of (the group’s) military forces”.

Strikes overnight on Thursday hit territories controlled by the Houthis in north and west Yemen, reported Houthi-owned media outlet Al-Masirah television.

On Wednesday, the Houthis’ military spokesman said the group had targeted an unnamed American merchant ship headed to what it said were Palestinian ports, as well as American destroyer USS Gravely in the Red Sea.

The group claimed to have hit the merchant vessel, without providing evidence. Cencom said the USS Gravely shot down a Houthi missile on Tuesday and that there were no injuries or damage.

Confrontations between the Houthis and the US have disrupted shipping lines through the Suez Canal, a critical waterway connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, with traffic falling 42 per cent over the past two months. The canal handled 12 per cent to 15 per cent of global trade last year.

In addition to the Houthis, the US and ally Israel are facing challenges from other Iranian-backed forces in the region, from Hamas in Gaza to Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iraqi popular mobilisation forces.

In an effort to pave the way for an end to the war in Gaza, the US is pressing for an extended ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. A deal US negotiators are trying to broker would involve the release of roughly 130 remaining hostages taken by Hamas and other militants in their October 7 attack on southern Israel.

The proposed deal would begin with a six-week ceasefire the US argues would then make it difficult for Israel to resume the war at its current intensity.

In another test of the US’s ability to contain Iran-linked groups, its forces are expected to respond to a drone strike on a base in Jordan last weekend that killed three US service members and wounded at least 34 others. US officials said the enemy drone was launched from Iraq by a militia backed by Tehran and struck the outpost’s living quarters.

Earlier this week, President Joe Biden said he held Iran responsible for arming the perpetrators of the attack and that he had made a decision on how to respond. US. officials haven’t said what that response would be, but among the options are launching a direct strike against Iran, hitting the regime’s proxy groups or personnel abroad, and ratcheting up financial pressure on Tehran’s battered economy.

The Jordan attack was the first time US troops have been killed by hostile action since the war between Hamas and Israel began. Iran denied any link to the attack.

The Wall Street Journal