The U.S. Department of Defense recently announced that a Japanese oil tanker from Saudi Arabia to India was attacked by Iranian drones in the Arabian Sea off the west coast of India, resulting in containers**, fortunately without a crew**. This is the first time since the new Palestinian-Israeli conflict began on 7 October that a ship has been attacked far from the Red Sea. The attack caused great concern in the United States. According to the American side, the attacked tanker, flying the Liberian flag, is owned by a Japanese company and is fully managed by a Dutch entity, with strong ties to the Israeli shipping tycoon, Itami Overh. It is reported that when the tanker was sailing to the Arabian Sea 200 kilometers from the Indian mainland, it was suddenly attacked by a drone that took off from the Iranian mainland, and after flying 830 kilometers, the drone dived directly and smashed into the hull.
The attack eventually resulted in the container**, and the hull of the ship was damaged to varying degrees. Unlike previous attacks, the attack took place far from the Red Sea, where most of the previous attacks took place in the vicinity of the Red Sea and were carried out by Yemen's Houthi rebels. Following the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on October 7, the Houthis began to operate. Initially, they attacked mainly Israeli military targets. For example, on October 19, the United States announced that it had shot down 19 drones off the coast of Yemen, as well as several anti-ship missiles. As Israel continues to expand its military operations in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis are not content to strike only Israeli military targets, but turn their attention to Israeli-related ships, waging a "naval war" against Israel.
On November 19, the Houthis hijacked a cargo ship called "Galactic Leader" to the port of Hodeidah, Yemen, because it was linked to the rich Israel, and fell under the category of "Israeli ships". [On November 19, the Houthis boarded the cargo ship "Galactic Leader" and hijacked him to the port of Hodeidah, Yemen. The Houthis' attacks have moved beyond the ships of Israeli companies or citizens, but have expanded to include all ships they believe are related to Israel. Once investigated or suspected to be an Israeli vessel, it will basically be targeted. In order to combat this behavior, the United States has said that it will form a "multinational joint fleet", including the United Kingdom, Canada, France and other countries, to strengthen escort efforts and strike at Houthis. Despite these tough statements from the United States, the Houthis and Iran behind them do not seem to care.
Although the United States has formed a multinational joint force at sea with the aim of teaching the Houthis a lesson, the reality is that the Houthis have not stopped, and even Iran, the "player behind the scenes", has chosen to intervene. Therefore, for the United States, it is a question of whether it should form a joint fleet to confront Iran, and it must not only fight the Houthis without touching Iran. After the Iranian drone attack, a U.S. ** said in an interview that if the U.S. reacts to the Houthi attack, it could once again trigger a military conflict between the Gulf states and the Houthis, with adverse consequences for the entire Middle East situation. Therefore, in order to avoid further escalation of the situation, they abandoned their attempts to directly attack the Houthis. The Houthis are still active, while Iran's Revolutionary Guards are involved.
Iran's range is significantly wider than that of the Houthis, and they can launch drones directly from their homeland to hit targets in the Arabian Sea, 830 kilometers away. As the Palestinian-Israeli conflict continues, Iran has also made its stance clear. Not long ago, Brigadier General Naqdi, the coordinating commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, warned that unless Israel stops its war with Hamas, the United States and its allies will see the emergence of new resistance forces, as well as the blockade of other waterways. According to Nakdi, Western countries were previously trapped in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, and now in the Red Sea, and may be trapped in the Mediterranean Sea in the future. Combined with the fact that the United States has not made progress on its previous plan to "form a joint fleet", it can be speculated that the United States may not be deeply involved in dealing with the Houthi issue in the future.
Most likely, they will only maintain the current escort forces, and the so-called "multinational combined fleet" may only be a formality. For the United States, which is now engaged in a state of multi-front warfare, they may prefer to choose between persuading Israel and attacking Iran. After all, the current United States does not dare to go to war with Iran lightly, and the Iranians only want to keep the attack "manageable" in order to put pressure on the United States, and they do not want to get directly involved in the conflict.