By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2024-05-06

The US-led coalition protecting international navigation in the Red Sea continues to degrade the capabilities of the Iran-backed Houthis, while the actions of China and Russia are self-serving, analysts say.

In response to an uptick in Houthi attacks late last year targeting ships in the Red Sea, the United States announced the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a multinational maritime force to protect the important shipping lane.

The coalition continues to carry out precision strikes to secure maritime navigation.

Russia and China are conspicuously absent from the coalition. They also abstained from voting on United Nations Security Council Resolution No. 2722, which condemns the Houthi attacks and calls for their immediate stop.

"The United States ... has succeeded in degrading the capabilities of the Houthis, as the Houthi attacks stopped for about two weeks during the month of April as a result of the direct strikes on weapon depots targeted by the joint forces," political analyst Faisal Ahmed told Al-Fassel.

The financial cost to the United States and other coalition forces is "massive" but points to the US military's continued commitment to securing the key waterway, he said.

Russia and China, meanwhile, have made backdoor deals with the Houthis for safe passage of their ships, Ahmed said.

Despite these secret deals, "China opted to reroute its ships around the Cape of Good Hope [in South Africa] despite the high cost, added shipping time and associated losses," he said.

The US military is expending an enormous amount of money and resources to fight the Houthis, but the end result is worth it, analysts and officials say.

"The cost … is an absolute drop in the bucket compared to the global disruption that's being visited on the world's economy by the Houthis," Robert Murrett, a retired US Navy vice admiral and a former vice director of intelligence for the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told The Hill.

The United States will continue to safeguard international trade, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said.

"What would have been the cost of sunken ships, lives lost, environmental disaster, had we not and were we not working with the international community to address this problem?" he said.

Rather than contribute to the solution, Russia and China have cemented their strategic alliance with Iran, Abaad Center for Strategic Studies director Abdul Salam Mohammed told Al-Fassel.

He urged the United States to work with the legitimate Yemeni government and regional allies such as Saudi Arabia to end the Houthis' control over the coastal areas of Yemen.

Doing so will undermine the Iranian strategy of controlling the straits of Bab al-Mandeb and Hormuz and blockading Gulf oil, he said.