Washington: America's goal is not to escalate tensions in the Red Sea

 General Charles Q. Brown added that retaliatory strikes against Iran-backed Yemeni forces in the Red Sea are aimed at preventing future conflicts, ABC News reported. On Friday, Yemeni forces carried out new attacks off the Red Sea coast and launched anti-ship ballistic missiles in two separate attacks. As a result, one missile hit a British tanker in the Gulf of Aden and set it on fire. An ABC News reporter asked Brown about criticism from some critics that the Biden administration has not been and is not tough enough on these Houthis or Iran, to which Brown replied: “I ask them what they want from these conflicts. A larger conflict? Do they want us to go into full-scale war? Biden's senior military adviser stressed: “Our goal is not to escalate tensions in the Red Sea. Our goal is to build deterrence while protecting and caring for American forces.” “We have to be very careful in how we approach these areas, and we cannot predict exactly how each of these groups will respond to our actions,” Brown said. “So our goal is to protect our partners and allies and control these (Houthi) forces as much as possible.” He clearly stated: “We do not want to go down a path of escalation that will lead to wider conflict in the region.” Some U.S. lawmakers, such as Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, and Mike Johnson, the House speaker, welcomed the attacks carried out by the United States in the region, calling them "direly needed."