A mission to intercept Iranian missile warheads and parts bound for the Houthi Rebels last Thursday was a great success. But tragically, two Navy SEALs remain lost at sea despite a massive search that's still underway.
The U.S. Navy intercepted a Yemeni dhow, a ship type commonly used to smuggle weapons from Iran. In trying to board the ship, one Navy SEAL slipped from the ladder and fell into the roiling seas. His team member went in after him and both were swept away by the huge swells.
There has been no sign of the SEALs.
As rescue operations began, other troops carried out a search of the boat, which had a crew of 14, according to a Tuesday statement issued by U.S. Central Command. The statement draws a direct link to the weapons’ seizure and more than two dozen militant attacks emanating from Yemen since November, a spate of violence that has significantly disrupted commercial shipping in the Red Sea and prompted an aggressive response from the United States and other nations.
The dhow’s crew was taken into custody, and U.S. personnel sank the vessel, having deemed it “unsafe,” officials said. The seized items included Iranian-made ballistic and cruise missile warheads, propulsion and guidance systems, and air defense components.
The attacks by Houthis on ships plying the Red Sea shipping lanes are beginning to affect global shipping.
“It is clear that Iran continues shipment of advanced lethal aid to the Houthis,” said General Michael E. Kurilla commander of U.S. Central Command, or Centcom, which is responsible for American military operations in the Middle East. “This is yet another example of how Iran actively sows instability throughout the region.”
Western shippers are reporting a steep rise in ocean-shipping rates and significant delays as companies divert ships from the Red Sea to avoid the attacks.
Senior U.S. officials accused Tehran of having “aided and abetted” the ongoing crisis, which has principally affected commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea. The Houthis, officials contend, would be incapable of threatening these shipping routes without Iran’s technological and intelligence support.
The SEALs launched their mission from the USS Lewis B. Puller, which acts as a floating base, and headed toward the dhow in a smaller craft, according to a U.S. official. The dhow’s crew lacked official documentation, which allowed the U.S. boarding team to search the vessel, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military mission.
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There will soon be another attack on Houthi infrastructure and logistics but it's not going to deter them until the Iranian bases from where these shipments are sent are destroyed, along with the factories that make them. Biden is rightfully trying to avoid a much larger war by trying to keep Iran out of it. But the longer Israel fights Hamas and possibly Hezbollah, Iran will be a player that would need to be dealt with.
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