While patrolling the sea on Nov. 27, the U.S. Navy received a distress signal from a Liberian-flagged liquid cargo ship called "** Park", reporting that they had been hijacked. The ship carried 22 crew members and phosphoric acid cargo from several countries. The USS Mason, a U.S. Navy destroyer, went to the rescue and successfully demanded that the armed men release the hijacked cargo ship. Subsequently, five armed men tried to escape, but were captured by the Mason. At the same time, two ballistic missiles were fired from the Yemeni direction, which did not cause damage to the American destroyer, but they were quite close. Initially, the United States claimed that the Houthis had fired the missiles and that the missiles came from Iran.
However, on the 28th, the Pentagon changed its tune and said that it could only confirm that at least one missile was fired by the Houthis, and it could not determine whether the five captured hijackers were related to the Houthis in Yemen. At the same time, they were unable to confirm the model of the missile, noting that there were other ships in the area of the incident, so it was impossible to determine who the Houthis were targeting. The United States may announce that the incident was not a clash between the US military and the Houthis, but only a merchant ship being attacked by Somali pirates. This move could be embarrassing for Yemen**'s previous statement.
The U.S. approach to the Houthis so cautiously may be an attempt to send a message to Iran that both sides have room to play when it comes to Gaza. Iran has previously said that Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel had nothing to do with it, which is a stark departure from Hamas's narrative and shows that Iran wants to get rid of its responsibilities after achieving its strategic goals. And the United States now plans to aid Ukraine and seek $60 billion in aid from Congress before Christmas, so Israel cannot be overly agitated. In addition, there is a need to postpone the ceasefire agreement in Gaza and get Hamas to release more hostages, which will inevitably save face for Iran.
This is similar to how the United States has dealt with the Taliban for many years, only to insist on not listing it as a terrorist organization, because once on the list, the White House and the Pentagon cannot negotiate with it. As a result, the standard of political correctness is actually flexible and depends on political necessity.