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Why Won’t the US Stop Iranian and Houthi Aggression on Land and Sea?
A Yemeni government fighter fires a vehicle-mounted weapon at a frontline position during fighting against Houthi fighters in Marib, Yemen March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. REUTERS/Ali Owidha
Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, coordinating commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, has announced that Iran will close the Mediterranean Sea in retaliation for “US war crimes” in Gaza.
“They shall soon await the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, (the Strait of) Gibraltar and other waterways,” he said.
It is an expansion of attacks — both verbal and military — that have been undertaken by Iran and its proxies for years, but have ramped up since the Hamas atrocities on October 7.
US forces in Iraq and Syria have been attacked at least 150 times since President Joe Biden took office, two US defense officials told VOA. More than 103 rocket and drone attacks have occurred since the Hamas attacks.
Furthermore, since November, Houthi terrorists have fired on more than 100 ships in the Red Sea and beyond. They claim that the ships, including American ships, are Israeli or traveling to Israel, and are thus, somehow, legitimate targets. Ships of several nations have been affected, and some large shipping companies — including Maersk and BP — said that, at least temporarily, they would not use the Red Sea to move cargo to the Mediterranean.
Oil prices immediately rose two percent.
This is an act of war, and should be treated as one by the US. US CENTCOM operates in the Red Sea, and has a firm grasp on Houthi — and Iranian — capabilities.
Instead, the US formulated something called Operation Prosperity Guardian (OPG). It is already on life-support, as three major American allies announced they won’t participate. The French Defense Minister said that French naval assets in the region would remain under French command. Italian sources report that the Italian navy will respond to requests from Italian ships, but not in cooperation with OPG. Spain’s naval assets will be used only in coordination with NATO and/or the EU.
In addition to BG Naqdi’s boasts, Iran responded to Western hesitance with an expansion of Iranian assistance to the Houthis, who have now attacked a ship in the Indian Ocean. A US National Security Council spokesperson said, “Iranian-provided tactical intelligence has been critical in enabling Houthi targeting of maritime vessels since the group commenced attacks in November,” adding that the drones and missiles the Houthis have been using for the attacks were also provided by Iran.
Still, the Biden administration is being nice to Iran and its friends.
One of President Biden’s first moves in 2021 was to remove the Houthis from the terror-sponsor list. Oil sale waivers gave Iran access to billions of dollars. According to the IMF, Iran’s currency reserves fell from $122.47 billion to under $15 billion in 2019, before rising to $42 billion in 2023. That’s without the $6 billion the administration tried to put in Tehran’s Qatari bank account this year. In July, the White House announced that it had given more than $315 million to the Palestinians this year — and nearly a billion since the administration took office.
The UN embargo on Iran’s production and sale of ballistic missiles expired in November, with no US comment. Last week, a Venezuelan money-launderer under indictment in the US was released and shipped back to Venezuela — his clients included Hezbollah.
None of this “moderated” Iran or Hamas or the Houthis — there is nothing “moderate” about people whose religious ideology drives them to death for themselves and others.
And all that time, Iran was shipping missiles, drones, and precision-guided weapons factories to its proxies — and selling drones to Russia for use in Ukraine. By distributing its assets around the region, Iran appeared to be hoping that attacks on America (or Israel) would escape direct American (or Israeli) retaliation. Thus far, the mullahs have been right about the US, which has declined, until now, to retaliate (Israel is a different story).
Last week, the US struck back after an Iranian drone strike wounded three American soldiers in Iraq. But the retaliation was also in Iraq, meaning the US did not go after the real perpetrators. We have the assets to go after Iran and the Houthis.
Since World War II, the United States has been the preeminent guarantor of freedom of navigation in the face of difficult and ongoing trends — the establishment of dozens of independent and sometimes hostile countries lining the waterways, rather than colonies with colonial troops; the rise of Chinese and Russian fleets; and the expansion of Iran.
We reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war — leading the late Johnny Carson to opine that since those were now our ships, that was now our oil. We led an international coalition to prevent North Korean smuggling and one to fight off Somali pirates. We carry out freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Straits.
But we need two things ultimately to be successful — a plan and allies. Both appear threadbare at the moment.
The author is Senior Director of the Jewish Policy Center. A version of this article was previously published by The American Thinker.
The post Why Won’t the US Stop Iranian and Houthi Aggression on Land and Sea? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.