Rules of Engagement ROE-and confrontations with Iran

The US may have to consider firing on Iranian boats after latest Houthi attack

• Alex Lockie
•  
• Feb. 1, 2017, 11:29 AM
• 30,724

Footage supposedly shows the moment a Saudi naval vessel was rocked by a Houthi suicide boat attack. Abbas Almutwkel via YouTube

On Monday, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels off the coast of Yemen launched an attack on a Saudi Arabian naval vessel using suicide boats, or fast-attack craft laden with explosives.

According to Lawrence Brennan, a Fordham University maritime law professor and former US Navy commander, "This attack is likely to impact US naval operations and rules of engagement in nearby waters."

2016 saw a significant spike in the number of incidents at sea between the US Navy and fast-attack craft of the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, at least one of which required the US Navy to open fire with warning shots.

Meanwhile, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen had a blockbuster 2016, using an anti-ship missile to hit an Emirati naval vessel and then firing a salvo of missiles at US Navy ships in October.

The US Navy successfully fended off the Houthi missile attack and retaliated by destroying three radar sites in Houthi-controlled Yemen. At the time, US officials and experts contacted by Business Insider concluded that Iran likely supplied the missiles to the Houthis.

But the latest attack on the Saudis may give the US Navy pause in the future.

In a questionable video of the attack, people near the camera can be heard shouting "Death to America," "Death to Israel," and "Death to Jews." One Pentagon official told the Washington Examiner that the Houthis may have mistaken the Saudi ship they attacked for a US Navy ship, though another official denied it.

In any case, the US Navy frequently deals with Iranian fast-attack craft swarming its vessels and approaching closely. In one case last year, Iranian fast-attack craft got within 300 yards of a US Navy vessel.

Iran's fast-attack craft, the type repeatedly used to harass US Navy ships. Fars News Agency Photo via USNI News

The US Navy responded by attempting to contact the Iranians, maneuvering evasively, blowing the horn, then firing warning shots.

But according to Brennan, the US may not allow hostile, unresponsive ships to get so close to Navy vessels after a force associated with Iran used suicide boats to kill two Saudi sailors.

"The overarching duty of self-defense mandates revision of the ROE to provide a sufficient 'bubble' to prevent the risk of a suicide attack, particularly from swarming boats," Brennan said in an email to Business Insider.

Knowing what it does about suicide boats, should the US Navy allow hostile craft to get within a 300-yard "bubble" of its ships? US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Brian Caracci

US President Donald Trump has signaled his intention to respond more forcefully.

"With Iran," Trump said while campaigning in Florida in September, "when they circle our beautiful destroyers with their little boats, and they make gestures at our people that they shouldn't be allowed to make, they will be shot out of the water."

Trump administration: 'As of today, we're officially putting Iran on notice'

• Alex Lockie
•  
• Feb. 1, 2017, 2:39 PM
• 57,284

Michael Flynn, a retired lieutenant general and Trump's national security adviser. Lauren Victoria Burke/AP Photo

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, made a cameo at the White House's press briefing to issue a stern rebuke of Iran.

"Recent Iranian actions involving a provocative ballistic missile launch and an attack against a Saudi naval vessel conducted by Iran-supported Houthi militants underscore what should have been clear to the international community all along about Iran's destabilizing behavior across the entire Middle East," Flynn said, referring to Monday's Houthi attack that killed two sailors on a Saudi ship.

Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition of Gulf states involved in bombing Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. While the Saudis support the internationally recognized government of Yemen, they stand accused of war crimes in their massive air campaign there.

Flynn said Iran had violated UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which prohibits Iran from designing missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. But a European Union representative said on Tuesday at the UN Security Council that Iran's test did not violate the resolution.

Experts have told Business Insider that Iran's missile launches violate the spirit of the resolution but that the language of the resolution remains ambiguous on missile testing.

The fact that no definite criteria exist for differentiating conventional ballistic missiles from nuclear-capable ones further muddles the issue of whether Iran violated the resolution.

Flynn pointed to the series of incidents at sea where Iranian naval vessels have harassed US ships. Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen have also attacked ships from the US and Saudi Arabia.

"In these and other similar activities, Iran continues to threaten US friends and allies in the region," said Flynn.

Flynn criticized the Obama administration's handling of Iran, saying Trump found its moves "weak and ineffective."

Iranian-made missiles at Holy Defence Museum in Tehran. Reuters

Flynn came to a forceful yet vague conclusion.

"As of today, we're officially putting Iran on notice," he said.

Flynn's comments echo what Lawrence Brennan, a Fordham University maritime law professor and former US Navy commander, told Business Insider on Monday. Essentially, the Houthi attack on a Saudi ship using suicide boats may change the calculus for the US Navy operating in the region, he said.

"This attack is likely to impact US naval operations and rules of engagement in nearby waters," said Brennan, who said Iranian ships frequently harass and sail close to US Navy ships.

Brennan suggested that in light of the recent suicide boat attacks, the US Navy should consider shooting Iranian or other hostile vessels that get too close.

Iran's fast-attack craft, the type repeatedly used to harass US Navy ships. Fars News Agency Photo via USNI News

"The overarching duty of self-defense mandates revision of the ROE to provide a sufficient 'bubble' to prevent the risk of a suicide attack, particularly from swarming boats," Brennan said in an email to Business Insider.

This suggestion fits in line with Trump's expressed intention to deal with Iran more forcefully.

"With Iran," Trump said while campaigning in Florida in September, "when they circle our beautiful destroyers with their little boats and they make gestures at our people that they shouldn't be allowed to make, they will be shot out of the water."

The Trump administration just put Iran 'on notice' — but the Pentagon has no idea what that means

• Alex Lockie
• Feb. 1, 2017, 6:03 PM
• 9,957

Defense Intelligence Agency Director and US Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on "Worldwide Threats" in Washington, February 4, 2014. REUTERS/Gary Cameron

On Wednesday at a White House press briefing, retired Gen. Michael Flynn told reporters in no uncertain terms: "As of today, we're officially putting Iran on notice."

Flynn's statement was in response to Iran's recent test of a ballistic missile, as well as to an attack by Iranian-backed Houthi militants that killed two on a Saudi navy ship off the coast of Yemen.

Flynn seemed to confirm that the White House saw Iran as behind the attack on the Saudis and to signal some US response, but it seems the Pentagon has no idea what putting Iran "on notice" actually entails.

"We saw the statement as well," a spokesman for US Central Command, the command responsible for the Middle East, told The Guardian. "This is still at the policy level, and we are waiting for something to come down the line. We have not been asked to change anything operationally in the region."

A White House official told The Guardian that the US was "going to take appropriate action" and "considering a whole range of options," including military strikes.

The US has repeatedly clashed with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps off the coast of Yemen, with encounters stopping just short of bloodshed.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald fires a Harpoon missile during a live-fire drill. US Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Patrick Dionne

Lawrence Brennan, a professor of maritime law and former US Navy commander, told Business Insider on Wednesday that the US Navy may reconsider their rules of engagement with the Iranians at sea and that as the risk of conflict increases, the US Navy may look to fire on harassing Iranian ships sooner rather than later.

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