U.S. Navy sinks three Houthi boats: Starting in October, the Houthis—a group of Iran-backed Yemeni militants—staged a series of attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea. This past weekend, the situation got out of control: Houthis attacked a container ship, the Maersk Hangzhou, and U.S.S. Eisenhower carrier group helicopters responded to the distress call. Houthis started shooting, and the American helicopters responded, sinking three of the four Houthi boats and killing at least 10 people who were on board.

Iran claims it was not behind the attacks, but “ten days ago, the [Biden] administration declassified intelligence indicating that Iranian paramilitary groups were coordinating the Houthi attacks, providing targeting information about commercial shipping passing through the waterway and the Suez Canal.”

Now the administration “must decide whether to strike Houthi missile and drone sites in Yemen, or wait to see whether the Houthis back off after the sinking of three of their fast boats and the deaths of their fighters,” according to senior officials who spoke with The New York Times.