What Are Washington’s Evil Schemes behind New Red Sea Naval Coalition?

The US Secretary of Defense Lioyd Austin is set to visit the region and after meetings with Israeli officials go to the Persian Gulf states to discuss new Washington plans for regional security. 

According to Sada Al-Balad news website, after Tel Aviv, Austin will fly to Bahrain, the home of the US Fifth Navy Fleet to discus freedom of maritime navigation with Manama rulers. He then will go to Qatar, where the Pentagon has a major command center in Al-Udaid Air Base. 

Citing a Pentagon official, the War Zone outlet on Sunday reported that Austin in his tour of the region will declare the American preparation to take action against Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement to protect the American and allied interests in the Red Sea. 

The force, provisionally entitled Operation Prosperity Guardian, is due to be announced by the defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, when he visits the Middle East, reported the Guardian. Much like the Task Force 153 already operating out of Bahrain, the larger protection force is designed to provide reassurance to commercial shipping companies that Ansarullah attacks will be seen off, and that the sea remains safe for commercial shipping. 

The current coalition in the Red Sea and‌ Gulf of Aden, known as Task Force 153, consists of 39 countries commanded by deputy commander of the Fifth Fleet and has already been actively patrolling the Red Sea to counter Somalia piracy and other threats to international navigation. 

It is not yet clear which countries will participate in the new American coalition in the Red Sea, but what is certain is that a number of Arab countries held meetings with White House officials in recent weeks to set up a safe corridor in this region.

Politico reported on Sunday, citing unnamed officials, that the Pentagon recently sent a task force led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower to the Gulf of Aden. The US envoy to Yemen, Tim Landerking, told Reuters that the US wants to form the “broadest possible maritime coalition” to protect ships in the Red Sea and send an important signal to Ansarullah that further attacks will not be tolerated. 

Austin’s tour of the Persian Gulf comes while Ansarullah carried out several attacks on Israeli and American ships last week, leaving White House officials seriously worried. The Pentagon claimed on Saturday that an American destroyer in the Red Sea shot down 14 drones launched from Yemen. 

As Ansarullah steps up its attacks on Israeli ships, Semafor news website cited Pentagon officials as saying Sunday that the US is mulling strikes on Ansarullah military positions in response to attacks on Israeli ships. Simultaneously, Ansarullah spokesman Mohammad Abdul Salam said that the movement is talking with international sides with an Omani mediation on its operations in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. 

What’s behind the US ‘safe corridor’ plan in the Red Sea? 

By establishing a safe corridor in the Red Sea, the US is trying to bring the Israeli ships to the occupied territories in complete safety for Tel Aviv to evade an economic blow. Last week, the director of Eilat port admitted that following the Ansarullah operations, the rerouting of Israeli ships will cost Tel Aviv regime $3 billion a year. Therefore, to address the concerns of its ally, Washington is trying to guarantee the security of the Red Sea and the strategic Bab-el-Mandeb Strait as the continuation of these attacks will cut off the vital artery of Israel’s economy. 

The US, actually, by inflaming a confrontation in the Red Sea wants to distract the world attention from Israeli crimes in Gaza to Ansarullah threats and insinuate that the bigger threat for global security and peace is Sana’a government that should be removed with an international alliance. 

Setting traps for Arab countries 

Since Israeli regime is engaged in Gaza and southern Lebanon war and cannot bear a new front, the White House officials by promoting Ansarullah as a threat try to bring Arab countries to their side and put part of responsibility of defending the Israeli interests on them and thus reduce Tel Aviv costs. 

Actually, Washington is arguing to Arabs that if they do not help repel Ansarullah attacks, their interests will be at stake. But analysts agree that this is big trap being set for Arab countries and once they step in the American game, they will pay a heavy price. 

The American justification for Red Sea coalition comes as Ansarullah has made it crystal clear that it only operates against Israeli ships and poses no threat to other countries. Still, Washington is internationalizing the case. 

Speaking to Sputnik on Sunday, a Yemeni military expert warned about the actions of the US and its Arab allies in the region, adding that entry of any Arab country to the coalition called for by Washington and the Israeli regime in the Red Sea would be a “disaster” unprecedented in Arab history. And if any Arab country participates in the American coalition, all its economic and strategic facilities will be targeted.

Over the past two months, Ansarullah has proven it only targets Israeli ships and the type and timing of the attacks show that the movement has precise information about navigation of Israeli ships in the Red Sea and carries out its attacks unfaultily. 

Some experts believe that Washington seeks to include the Red Sea case in political agreements in Yemen and use it as a trump card against Sana’a to stop Ansarullah’s operations against the occupied territories. This is while the leaders of Ansarullah have repeatedly said that their operations are carried out in support of the people of Gaza and once Israel halts its war and unblocks Gaza, they will stop their attacks and so this case has nothing to do with Yemen’s internal crisis. 

The US and its allies blame Ansarullah as a threat to security of navigation while they are the main destabilizing forces in the region. In addition to the US, France and Britain have sent ships to the Red Sea in recent months to defend the interests of the Israeli occupation. According to Anadolu news agency, the British Royal Navy’s HMS Diamond destroyer claimed on Saturday that it shot down a drone suspected of targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea. The French Navy also claimed to have intercepted two drones that flew from the coast of Yemen towards a naval ship of this country in the Red Sea. 

The Western military build-up in the Red Sea indicates that the US and its allies fan the flames in the region to put strains on Sana’a government and force it to retreat. 

However, Ansarullah is ignoring this Western muscle flexing and has warned that as long as the war in Gaza continues, all Israeli ships will be its legitimate targets. Ansarullah has already achieved remarkable missile, drone, and naval capabilities and can deal working blows to Israeli ships and American Navy. 

Experience has shown that Washington’s efforts to build coalitions in the Persian Gulf have had disastrous results for the regional countries and have given them insecurity instead of security. Examples are Syria and Yemen wars from whose consequences the Muslim countries are yet to recover. 

The Saudi-led Arab aggression coalition invaded Yemen in March 2015 with the US green light, claiming that it could seize the Yemeni capital Sana’a within two weeks and unseat Ansarullah from power. But after 9 years, not only has it made no gains, but also Ansarullah tipped the scales in its favor with its missiles and drones, making the Saudis struggle for a lasting ceasefire to step out of this self-made quagmire. 

The US that itself is still struggling in the previous Yemeni crisis would pay a heavy price should it pick new fight with Ansarullah. In fact, the resistance movement that has so far been tolerant of enemies would take revenge on Washington for 9 years of war if war erupts. Fully overlooking the Bab-el-Mandeb, Ansarullah can block this strategic waterway and impose irreparable damages on the Israelis and their Western backers. 

In general, the American and allies’ push against Ansarullah operations will go nowhere like past experiences of coalition making in the region and will only broaden the range of confrontation between the resistance groups and the Israeli-American camp.