The United States and its Western allies seem unable to curb the increasing Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, and a Navy commander may have offered some insight into the reason: not to anger Iran.

On Ward Carroll’s YouTube episode, titled ‘Admiral Tells the Real Truth about battling the Houthis in the Red Sea,” a US Navy commander from the Dwight D Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, said he suggested more aggressive strikes on the Houthis, but reportedly he was told to avoid that by higher command.

The alleged instruction was to avoid large- scale counterstrikes against the Iranian proxy force due to “the balance of deterrence” with the Islamic Republic of Iran.