US launches effort to stop Russia from arming Houthis with antiship missiles

WASHINGTON—U.S. intelligence agencies are warning that Russia might arm Houthi militants in Yemen with advanced antiship missiles in retaliation for the Biden administration’s support for Ukrainian strikes inside Russia with U.S. weapons.

The new intelligence comes as the top U.S. Middle East commander recently warned in a classified letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that military operations in the region are “failing” to deter Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and that a broader approach is needed, according to U.S. officials.

The White House has launched a confidential push to try to stop Moscow from delivering the missiles to the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have been attacking shipping in the Red Sea for eight months in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The administration has mounted a diplomatic effort through a third country to try to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin not to join Iran in providing weapons to the Houthis, according to U.S. officials, who declined to identify the country.

The combination of intelligence that Moscow might be planning to provide military support to the Houthis in Yemen and the warnings from Gen. Erik Kurilla, the head of U.S. Central Command, has raised the question of whether the White House is doing enough to halt their attacks in the critical waterways.

An administration official said Central Command has been asked to prepare a broader list of potential targets, including specific militants, for possible strikes.

Some U.S. officials say, however, that more could have already been done to better protect the commercial shipping, including hitting larger weapons-storage facilities, targeting Houthi leaders and picking targets with a somewhat higher potential casualty count.

A decision by Moscow to arm the Houthis would mark an escalation in its confrontation with Washington, which has been playing out mostly over the conflict in Ukraine. Moscow has already sparked deep concern among U.S. officials by solidifying ties with North Korea and Iran and securing China’s help in strengthening the Russian defense industry.

Some analysts think Russians might be brandishing the threat of sending antiship missiles to the Houthis to discourage the administration from taking additional steps to assist Kyiv, such as authorizing Ukrainian forces to use U.S.-supplied Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, weapons against airfields on Russian territory.

Kurilla called in his letter to Austin for a stepped-up “whole of government” effort against the Houthis, employing economic, diplomatic and potentially military pressure to discourage attacks on ships in the Red Sea and a narrow strait known as Bab el-Mandeb, off Yemen’s coast, officials said. At least 30 ships have been damaged, and two have sunk.

“Many people found the tone of the memo to be a bit shocking,” a defense official said. It said essentially that “U.S. service members will die if we continue going this way.”

The White House has authorized the military to conduct strikes against Houthi missiles and drones about to be launched and taken other limited steps, which have included seven planned military operations.

A second defense official who defended the current policy said that the U.S. and its partners have destroyed “a significant amount of Houthi capability,” including hundreds of missiles and launch facilities, hundreds of attack drones, dozens of storage facilities for weapons and equipment facilities, numerous command and control facilities, air defense systems, radars and several helicopters.

But some Central Command officials say their forces have been unable to prevent the Houthis from regularly threatening commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb because they haven’t had the approval to carry out a broader range of strikes.

The Houthi attacks have continued to disrupt shipping and keep the U.S. and its allies tied down, frustrating the Navy’s decades-old mission of keeping open the region’s critical sea lanes.

“If you tell the military to re-establish freedom of navigation and then you tell them to only be defensive, it isn’t going to work,” said one U.S. official. “It is all about protecting ships without affecting the root cause.”

The Houthis have a diverse arsenal of weapons to attack ships, including attack drones, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and unmanned boats. Many of the drones and missiles have been provided by Iran or use technology supplied by Tehran.

But the possibility that the Yemeni rebels might receive advanced Russian missiles presents a new danger.

“The Houthis have the most robust antiship capabilities among Iran’s regional proxy network,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank. “But Russian antiship weapons would represent a qualitative leap and add more teeth to the existing Houthi maritime threat.”

Middle East Eye, a London-based news site, reported last month that Russia has previously considered providing antiship cruise missiles to the Houthis but was talked out of doing so by the Saudis.

Since then, U.S. officials have seen continuing indications that Putin might yet provide the missiles to the Houthis as payback for President Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to strike targets on Russian territory with U.S. weapons.

Last month Putin explicitly warned that Moscow might provide weapons to U.S. adversaries because of the White House Ukraine policy. “The response can be asymmetrical, and we will think about that,” Putin told journalists at an international economic forum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The nature of the intelligence pointing to a possible Russian move to arm the Houthis is unclear. While no missiles have been delivered yet, Houthi representatives have been observed in Russia, two U.S. officials said.

If the missiles were provided they could be sent using Iranian smuggling routes, some U.S. officials say. The Russian Embassy in Washington didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Houthis vowed in December to strike any ship heading to Israeli ports. But many of their attacks have been directed against civilian ships with no ties to Israel or planned port calls, according to a June report by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency.

U.S. officials say that the Houthis and their Iranian backers have been using commercial ship tracking websites to identify and then target commercial vessels. The U.S. has warned companies that provide such data services to take steps to preclude the Houthis from gaining access to the shipping information and has also cautioned foreign governments where such companies are located.

The Houthis have also threatened to attack U.S. Navy vessels and those of U.S. allies.

U.S. warships have had close calls with missiles and drones from Yemen. In recent weeks the Houthis have expanded their campaign, including by launching missiles into the Arabian Sea.

Though Kurilla called for an intensified “whole of government” effort, a Biden administration official said some measures have already been taken to complement the military actions.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on individuals and entities providing funding to the Houthis, as well as on Houthi leaders, the official added. On Jan. 10, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution sponsored by the U.S. and Japan demanding that the Houthis end the attacks. On Jan. 17, the U.S. designated the Houthis as specially designated global terrorists, reversing a February 2021 decision to take them off that list.

On Thursday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller announced the sanctioning of several individuals and entities, along with five ships, “that have played critical roles in financing the Houthis’ destabilizing activities.”

Write to Michael R. Gordon at michael.gordon@wsj.com and Lara Seligman at lara.seligman@wsj.com