The White House said Monday that the U.S. may establish a naval task force to escort commercial ships in the Red Sea, a day after three vessels were struck by missiles fired by Iranian-back Houthi rebels in Yemen.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the U.S. has been in active conversations with allies about setting up the escorts though nothing is finalized, describing it as a “natural” response to that sort of incident.
“We are in talks with other countries about a maritime task force of sorts involving the ships from partner nations alongside the United States in ensuring safe passage,” Sullivan told reporters. He noted similar task forces are used to protect commercial shipping elsewhere, including off the coast of Somalia.
Sullivan said that while the Houthis had “their finger on the trigger,” the group’s Iranian sponsors were ultimately responsible.
“The weapons here are being supplied by Iran,” Sullivan said. “Iran, we believe, is the ultimate party responsible for this.”
Sullivan said the U.S. does not believe that all three of the ships struck by the Houthis had ties to Israel, saying, “It goes to show you the level of recklessness that the Houthis are operating.”