China tells Iran to control the Houthis...

 

Chinese officials have asked their Iranian counterparts to help rein in attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis, or risk harming business relations with Beijing, Reuters reports. pic.twitter.com/RQZ0xPgGEg

— Clash Report (@clashreport) January 26, 2024

Don't get excited. This is self interest at work. World trade is taking a hit. We already have worldwide inflation and shipping costs will go up the longer the Houthis are targeting merchant shipping. The weird thing is that the Houthis cracked the code. You don't go after a nation's warships, you go after world trade. Just imagine that they were really determined to do damage. Just think what would happen if a merchant ship hit a mine! Can you see the US Navy trying to conduct a demining operations while also fighting off drones and anti-ship missiles? THAT WOULD BE A LOOK AT FUTURE NAVAL WARFARE! It won't happen, the Houthis have already slowed down and that part of this saga is almost behind us.

One question though.

Did the US Navy finally stepping up attacks settle this situation or did the late statement by China (which the Biden admin had been begging for help) do it?

From my chair it was the US Navy finally deciding to conduct serious strikes.

China sees how this is going and is looking for cheap brownie points.