The Times: The United States isn’t ready to fight Iran on three fronts

The Times newspaper considered that the United States isn’t ready to fight Iran on three fronts.

According to the Times, building the first modern naval forces in the age of empires is to highlight imperial ambition, secure maritime trade, and frighten pirates.

Today, as Houthi rebels fire missiles and drones at commercial ships trying to cross from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean, the naval mission looks somewhat similar.

The US security community’s careless calculations indicate that the conflict in the Red Sea will soon be settled through the use of the usual tactics of bombs or bribery.

Either the United States will be forced to bomb Houthi bases along the Yemeni coast, depleting its arsenal of drones and missiles, or the Houthis will be bought off.

But this is also old-fashioned thinking; It underestimates the depth of strategic planning taking place in Tehran.

What is happening is the beginning of a small war with global implications.

It’s a war that challenges the US ability to fight at sea against a guerrilla force whose ultimate goal, led by Iran, is to drive the United States out of the Middle East.

The United States isn’t ready for this, as Houthi drones, which cost about $2,000 each, are shot down by US missiles, that cost up to $2 million each.

Sooner rather than later, the destroyers will have to return to its dock to reload 90 or more missile tubes; Not only does this cost money, it leaves carrier groups exposed when the supporting warships abandon them.

The US calculations at the present time are that it’s worth bearing these expenses.

If a single civilian container ship is hit and loses its cargo, the bill will be higher.

If a Western warship is disabled, US military power will be called into question around the world.

The United States won’t be able to fulfill its self-proclaimed goal of protecting freedom of navigation on trade routes.

Moreover, if the Suez Canal and the Bab el Mandab Strait were closed for a longer period, there would be a serious disruption to the supply chain, and oil and liquefied natural gas tankers would take at least a week longer to reach Europe, and container movement would be more at risk.

Prices will rise, inflation targets will be met, and there will be global shortages.

Insurance premiums are rising, and the already unstable Egyptian economy will suffer from the loss of transit fees through the Suez Canal.

Meanwhile, It’s not surprising, then, that Ismail Haniyeh, the supreme political leader of the Hamas, chose this moment to visit Cairo, as he has only a few friends.

The rationale behind this is that an increasingly desperate Egypt must make more efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Consequently, Houthi drone were recruited to increase the risks, and Iran is creating a pincer movement, with Hezbollah in the northern front of Israel, the Houthis from the south, and the Syrian front can ignites at any moment, especially after the recent Israeli attacks in Syria, which one of them targeted Iranian senior advisers on Monday.

Hezbollah at this moment is nothing more than a source of nuisance to the Israeli forces.

That could change quickly, but Iran may want to keep Hezbollah, with its massive combat-trained army, in reserve for now, a safety cushion for Iran in the event of a direct attack.

The Houthis, who pioneered the 2019 drone attack on Saudi oil facilities, bring three traits to Iran’s proxy war: a gift for asymmetric warfare; The fact that they are Zaidi Shiites and trust Tehran in a way that Sunni Hamas doesn’t; Over the course of eight years of conflict against Saudi Arabia and the UAE, they have shown that they are able to stand their ground.

Iran often denies that the Houthis are its agent, which is Tehran’s default position regarding all foreign forces working on its behalf.

In conclusion, whether the Iranians would intervene to improve Houthi targeting by modifying navigation systems?

Will they provide electro-optical search heads for the suicide drones provided by Tehran?

According to Western assessments, this appears to be the case.

Iran is working to ignite a war on three fronts against Israel and its protectors.

US hard-liners, such as John Bolton, who formerly worked in the Trump administration, say that Western restraint toward Iran is read there as a sign of America’s civilizational decline… “obviously Bolton is right”.