Attacks by Iranian-backed proxies have slowed since the drone attack in January that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan near the Syrian border.
There have been only two minor attacks in Syria since Feb. 2, when the United States launched retaliatory attacks on targets in Syria and Iraq.
But U.S. lawmakers warned Wednesday that the lull does not de-escalate the risks of a regional conflict.
“Iran doesn't have complete command and control of their operations,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin said Wednesday. “That makes this a very precarious situation, one that requires careful clear-eyed American leadership. The risks of miscalculation would not only lead to another deadly attack against U.S. service members, it could lead to a full-scale regional war.”
The U.S. military said U.S. and coalition forces shot down five Houthi drones late Tuesday in the Red Sea.
U.S. Central Command said the drones were launched from areas of Yemen controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and that the drones “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and to the U.S. Navy and coalition ships in the region.”
The strikes were the latest in months of actions seeking to counter attacks by the Houthis against vessels in the Red Sea.
The Houthis have said they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians amid the war in Gaza.
“Iran thrives on chaos and suffering. The best way to undermine threat in the long term is to offer an alternative — a comprehensive and lasting peace that allows for real regional integration. I realize this is no easy task, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't make our efforts,” Cardin said.
The White House called the January attack “despicable and wholly unjust,” and killed the leader of the Kataib Hezbollah group in a targeted airstrike on Feb. 8 in retaliation.
Senate Republicans characterized the Biden administration’s overall approach to dealing with Iran as weak.
Senator Jim Risch, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called on the administration to do a better job of denying Iran the resources it uses to commit acts of terrorism.
“The Biden administration has still not articulated a coherent Iran policy outside of the nuclear negotiations. It's time to change course,” Risch said Wednesday. “We must adopt a policy of containment. Iran does not think like the West, and it cannot be taught or turned into a change in conduct.”
Brian Hook, the former U.S. special representative for Iran during the Trump administration, told senators, “I believe that Iran knows that it can safely expand its Axis of Resistance because of the Biden administration's deep aversion to defensive military action. The Biden administration de-escalates to de-escalate. The Iranian regime thrives under this strategy. American troops do not.”
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is considering Risch’s legislation to better enforce U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil.
“Iran is always going to make sure that Hezbollah gets what it needs,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told VOA. “Their support for proxies is a very low-cost means of provoking the United States. I mean, we would be foolish to think that an oil sanction here, there, is going to change Iran's decision to fund a group like Hezbollah.”
