Iran, through its proxy forces in Yemen, is turning a vital international waterway into a militarized chokepoint that threatens freedom of navigation, a senior U.S. commander charged Wednesday.
In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, Gen. Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Central Command, said Iran has moved advanced weaponry into Yemen, which threatens ship traffic through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
Votel said the international shipping lanes are being turned into another Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has elaborate shore-based weapons that in a time of crisis could shut down shipping in the Persian Gulf.
“With the support of Iran, we have seen the migration of capabilities that we previously observed in the Straits of Hormuz,” Votel said, including a layered defense, consisting of “coastal defense missiles and radar systems, mines, and explosive boats.”
Votel described the Bab-el-Mandeb strait as chokepoint, an extraordinarily restrictive strait, through which 60 to 70 ships transit on a daily basis.
Votel accused Iran of “a range of malign activities,” which he said were perpetrated by Iran and its allies in the region.
“It is my view that Iran poses the greatest long-term threat to stability in this part of the world,” Votel said.
“I think that Iran’s objective here is to be the right regional hegemon. They want to be the predominant power in the region,” Votel said. “There’s no doubt about that and I think that’s what they are pursuing.”
Votel said Iranian fast boats continue to harass U.S. or other nations’ ships in international waters in the Persian Gulf about 300 times a year, an average of every day or so.
He estimated that 30 to 45 encounters fall into the category of abnormal, unprofessional or unsafe.
But he said the harassment, while provocative and unprofessional, has had little effect on U.S. maritime operations in the Gulf.
“The presence of these types of boats out there very seldom, if ever, prevent us from accomplishing our missions,” Votel said.
