US warns Iran-backed militias

“We are ready to face whatever any group or any country tries to attack us“, warned Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser on Sunday. A warning addressed to Iran, which must expect “a quick and energetic response“if he”chose to respond directly“against the United States.

Warnings issued during a series of television interviews after the United States and Britain struck 36 Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday. Iran-backed rebels have repeatedly fired on U.S. and international interests in the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas.

After a weekend of retaliatory strikes, the United States on Sunday warned Iran and the militias it arms and funds that it will carry out more attacks if American forces positioned in the region continue to be targeted. …while claiming not to want a “open military campaign” throughout the region.

Militias close to Iran

The US attack on dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria hit more than 85 targets across seven sites. These included command and control headquarters, intelligence centers, rocket and missile centers, drone and munitions storage sites, and other facilities linked to militias or the Quds Force. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the expeditionary unit that manages Tehran’s relations with regional militias.

So far, the Biden administration has appeared not to directly target Iran or the senior leadership of the Quds Force within its borders.

Some militias have posed a threat to US bases for years, but the groups have intensified their attacks following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas since October 7.

The Houthis have since carried out almost daily missile or drone attacks on commercial and military vessels transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and have made clear they have no intention of scaling back their campaign despite the new international force tasked with protecting ships in this vital waterway.

American strikes hit six provinces of Yemen held by Houthi rebels on Sunday night, notably in Sanaa, the capital. The Houthis gave no damage assessment, but the United States described hitting underground missile arsenals, launch sites and helicopters used by the rebels.

“These attacks will not discourage Yemeni forces and the nation from maintaining their support for the Palestinians“said Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree, adding that “the aggressors’ airstrikes will not go unanswered.”

Iranian ships

Meanwhile, Iran has warned the United States against targeting two cargo ships in the Middle East long suspected of serving as transit operational bases for Iranian commandos. Iran’s statement on the Behshad and Saviz ships appeared to signal Tehran’s growing unease over US strikes in the region.

The two ships which have been sailing for years in the Red Sea, off the coast of Yemen, are suspected of serving as spy posts for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

A regular Iranian army video describes the ships as “floating armories“, aiming to “combating piracy in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden“. Yet Iran has not participated in any of the recent campaigns against the rise of Somali piracy in the region following Houthi attacks.

Just before the new US airstrikes campaign began, the Behshad headed south into the Gulf of Aden. It is now docked in Djibouti, East Africa, just off the coast of a Chinese military base in the country.

The statement ends with a warning superimposed over a montage of images of American warships and an American flag.

“Those who engage in terrorist activities against Behshad or similar vessels jeopardize international shipping routes, security and assume global responsibility for potential future international risks“, says the voiceover of the video.

The US Navy’s 5th Fleet, based in the Middle East, declined to comment on the threat. The Saviz is now in the Indian Ocean, near where the United States says Iranian drone attacks have recently targeted the ships.