Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says U.S. forces need to take more actions against Iran because the Tehran regime will continue to target American interests in the Middle East.
The former Trump administration official said the recent U.S.-led coalition airstrikes against the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group in Yemen are “a serious response” but need to target the real actor behind the group, he told Fox News in an interview on Jan. 12.
“You have to cause the Iranians themselves to have real harm done to them, a real cost imposed on them. The Iranians are willing to fight to the last Houthi,” Mr. Pompeo said. “They won’t see this as something that impacts them directly.”
On Jan. 9, U.S. vessels came under direct attack in the Houthi’s largest attack to date, involving nearly 20 drones and multiple missiles launched in multiple salvos directly against American ships.
Iran backs and arms the Houthis to attack Americans, Mr. Pompeo noted.
“Every missile, every rocket that’s fired on an American is an Iranian-made, Iranian intellectual property or [fired by an] Iranian-trained soldier,” he said. “They are fighting because the Iranians have put them up to this.”
In the interview, Mr. Pompeo said that during the Trump administration, Democrats opposed his efforts to defend a U.S. ally against the group.
“The Houthis have been firing missiles into Saudi Arabia and into the Gulf for years. And I can’t tell you how many Democrat senators screamed at me because we were supporting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia trying to defend itself from these very Iranian-backed terrorists,” he said.
“Then, the first move the administration takes is to delist them [from terrorist designation], to say nope, these aren’t terrorists. These are people that the United States can work with.”
While the Trump administration designated the Houthis as a terrorist group in December 2020, the Biden administration, in January 2021, revoked the designation from two lists: Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
Mr. Pompeo called on the Biden administration to return the group to the terrorist list.
On Jan. 11, Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Brian Mast (R-Fla.) sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging him to redesignate the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization.
“[Such a] redesignation would help combat terrorism, maintain international order, and protect the United States’ national and economic security,” the lawmakers noted in a statement.
Mr. Pompeo also condemned President Joe Biden for his lack of action against Iran.
“The president put our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines at risk because he was unprepared to defend the things that really mattered and to deter Iran seriously,” he said.
Global Trade Disruption
Attacks by Houthi rebels that began in mid-November 2023 have affected the international commercial shipping of more than 50 countries and have escalated in recent days to include direct targeting of U.S. ships.Every year, about 19,000 ships travel through the Suez Canal. Since its completion in 1869, the waterway has served as one of the world’s most important conduits, connecting Asia and Europe. The Red Sea is the canal’s sole southern entry point.
For example, routes from India to northern Europe will now take 38 days instead of 24, a 58 percent increase, and shipping from the Mediterranean to Southeast Asia will take 40 days instead of 23, a roughly 74 percent jump, according to energy market data provider Vortexa.
The added mileage means higher freight and insurance costs, as well as shipping delays and port congestion.
