 Sink Iranian ships if Houthis continue Red Sea attacks. Senator asks Biden. U.S. Republican Senator Dan Sullivan has called on the Biden administration to threaten Iran with sinking its ships if its Yemeni proxy continues attacks against American vessels in the Red Sea, according to Iran's international media outlet. Tell Iran that the next Houthi missile or drone launched at an American ship will result in the sinking of its Iran's spy ships that target our Navy. Senator Sullivan wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden pointing out that U.S. attacks on Houthi targets have not deterred the Iran-backed U.S. designated group against attacking commercial ships. He argued that the only way to stop the Houthis' assaults is letting Iran know that it would face direct consequences. He referred to a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, citing General Eric Corrilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, as saying that recent U.S. strikes on Iranian proxies in the region sent a very strong deterrent message. Corrilla, however, said Iran was not deterred from assisting Houthi strikes on U.S. military and civilian targets, emphasizing that Iranian spy ships are providing the Houthis with targeting information to sink American ships and kill U.S. sailors and Marines. Yet Iran is facing zero consequences for this collusion. They are not paying the cost, he said. As General Corrilla also noted, however, deterrence is always temporary and Houthi terrorists in Yemen have not been as effectively deterred, Sullivan said in his letter. If we ever expect Tehran to call off its terrorist proxies and make deterrence more than a temporary respite, Iran must be made to pay a price. During the hearing, Sullivan suggested Corrilla could order attacks to sink Iranian vessels after such an event, even though no U.S. or allied vessels were damaged. Corrilla said that Biden would have to issue an order for such an operation. Sullivan asked the sent com commander if he had recommended sinking Iranian ships to Biden. Corrilla answered, I provide options ranging everything from cyber to kinetic and also identify the risk of escalation and all of those options. U.S. tries to persuade Iran to use its influence over Houthis. The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden reportedly held behind the scenes negotiations with Iran to solicit Tehran's help in pressuring Yemen's Houthi rebels to halt their attacks on commercial cargo ships in the Red Sea. The talks were held in January in Oman. The Financial Times reported citing unidentified U.S. and Iranian officials. Omani officials acted as intermediaries shuttling between the American and Iranian negotiators so they could communicate without making direct contact with each other. The Houthi attacks have continued unabated suggesting that the secret negotiations failed to achieve the desired results. The Financial Times did not specify whether Iran rejected the U.S. request or tried unsuccessfully to persuade the rebels to cease their rocket and drone attacks. Iranian leaders have claimed that although Tehran supports the militant group politically, the Houthis act independently. Iran has reportedly sought to avoid escalation of tensions with Washington, discouraging its affiliated militias from further attacks on American military bases in Iraq and Syria after three U.S. troops were killed in a drone strike near the Jordanian-Syrian border in late January. An Iranian official told the publication that when a key general visited Baghdad last month, he advised Iraqi militias to manage their behavior in a way that will not allow America to engage Iran. U.S. negotiators, led by White House Middle East advisor Brett McGurk and envoy Abram Paley, also expressed concerns about Iran's expanding nuclear program. According to the report, Iran was represented by its Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Khani, who is Tehran's lead nuclear negotiator. The Biden administration sees indirect communication channels as a method for raising the full range of threats emanating from Iran. The Financial Times said, the White House negotiators conveyed to the Iranians what they need to do in order to prevent a wider conflict as they claim they want. A second round of talks, reportedly scheduled for last month, was delayed because McGurk was focused on trying to help broker a ceasefire in the Israel Hamas War. Yemen's Houthis threatened to extend ship attacks to Indian Ocean. They have hypersonic missile. Yemen's Houthi rebels claim to have a new hypersonic missile in their arsenal, potentially raising the stakes in their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways against the backdrop of Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The missile can reach speeds of up to Mach 8 or 6,200 miles per hour and is powered by solid fuel, an unnamed military source told Russia's Sputnik news agency. Houthis plans to begin manufacturing it for use in attacks in the Red Sea and Arabian seas and the Gulf of Aden as well as against targets in Israel, the source added. The source went on to say that the following months of testing, Yemeni Houthi forces have also upgraded their missiles and drones to carry warheads of twice the explosive power as what it had in its arsenal. Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, the Houthi's secretive supreme leader, said the rebels will start hitting ships heading towards the Cape of Good Hope in Africa's southern tip. Until now, the rebels have largely struck ships heading into the Red Sea toward the Suez Canal and such an escalation would target the longer alternative route used by some vessels. It remains unclear how they would carry out any possible assault. Our main battle is to prevent ships linked to the Israeli enemy from passing through not only the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden but also the Indian Ocean towards the Cape of Good Hope. Al-Houthi said, This is a major step and we have begun to implement our operations related to it, he added. Al-Houthi said, About 34 Houthi members have been killed since the group began the attacks, which have been aimed at 73 ships. Meanwhile, Iran and the US reportedly held indirect talks in Oman. The first in months amid their long simmering tensions over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program and attacks by its proxies. Iran, the Houthi's main supporter, claims to have a hypersonic missile and has reportedly armed the group with the missiles they now use.