Admiral Cooper tells Tuberville that the Houthis are "extremely well supplied by the Iranians."

June 24, 2025 – WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) participated in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to consider the nominations of Vice Admiral Charles B. Cooper II, to be Commander for United States Central Command.

Senator Tuberville discussed the Houthi insurgency in Yemen and their threat on international shipping. The Houthis have fired on U.S. ships including an American aircraft carrier; but we currently have a ceasefire with them. Admiral Cooper said, "Admiral Cooper told Tuberville that the Houthi rebels in Yemen were being "extremely well supplied by Iran."

Sen. Tuberville asked: "Admiral, we hadn't talked about the Houthis. I think we've bombed them for 30 straight days. Is that correct?"

Cooper answered, "Sir, we bombed them for 51 straight days in conjunction with Operation Rough Rider."

Tuberville followed up, "Yeah. Have we stopped?"

Cooper said, "Sir, the president gave the military a very precise mission, which was to restore the freedom of navigation, and that mission was successfully executed. We have freedom of navigation today. We agreed [to] a ceasefire several weeks ago. Now 40 days ago. If the Houthis didn't shoot at us, we wouldn't shoot at them. They have not shot at us. We have not shot at them. And we have multiple examples of destroyers going back and forth through the Bab al-Mandab."

Tuberville asked. "Destroyers, but what about merchant ships?"

Cooper said, "There is merchant ships flowing through the Bab al-Mandab today. If we walk back to the fall of 2023 when the Houthis started their kinetic actions, it took several months for the flow of commerce to leave the Red Sea. I would expect it's gonna take several months for it to fully come back."

Tuberville asked, "My understanding is that the Houthis are one of the strongest groups that are backed by Iran. Is that correct?"

Cooper said, "Sir, they've been supported with arms, people, training, ISR for the better part of 10 years. They're well supported."

ISR in military jargon stands for: Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance.

Tuberville continued, "Yeah. China support's them too?"

Cooper said, "They do."

Tuberville asked, "So, do you think this is going to be an on and off project with the Houthis over the years? Or are we going to be able to stabilize it?"

Cooper answered, "I think we're now 40 days into this; the ball is in the Houthis' court. We're prepared for a range of actions, but I think the policies associated with the ceasefire remain in place, and we'll just be prepared, from a military perspective, for a wide range of contingencies as is our obligation to do so."

Tuberville asked, "Do we actually know who the leadership is that controls the Houthis?"

Cooper answered, "We do, sir."

Tuberville asked, "Do we talk to them? They talk back to us? How does that work?"

Cooper answered, "Communications with the Houthis is done through diplomatic channels. And Houthis are a foreign terrorist organization. We don't have a communication via the military."

Tuberville asked, "So the president, when he works and tries to calm the situation down, who does he talk to?"

Cooper answered, "Sir, he uses the Envoy for the Middle East, Ambassador Steve Witkoff, who helped enable the most recent ceasefire."

Tuberville asked, "Yeah. They must be some tough rascals. I mean, we bombed them for 51 days and they're still kicking. Right?"

Cooper answered, "They're extremely well supplied by the Iranians."

Tuberville asked, "They're supplied, but what? Are they dug in?"

Cooper answered, "As we've seen throughout the region, groups are going underground, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis. This is a serious issue that we will have to look at into the future."

Tuberville concluded, "Yeah. We do make a bomb in Huntsville called 'MOAB.' They do a lot of damage. I think we've seen that in Afghanistan. We got a few left. So, maybe in the future, [if] we can't get them to reconcile...because we're gonna have to have full passage in the Red Sea. If we're going to get AI going, we're going to get supply chains going, we can't haphazardly wonder if they're going to sink one of our ships but thank you."

Tuberville also spoke with Lieutenant General Alexus G. Grynkewich who has been nominated to be Commander for United States European Command and Supreme Allied Commander of Europe, about the likelihood that Ukraine can win their ongoing war with Russia.

Tuberville asked, "Yeah. Let me ask this question. This Ukraine-Russia war has been going on for a long time. A lot of people killed. We've spent a lot of money. Can Ukraine win?"

Gen. Grynkewich answered, "Senator, I think Ukraine can win. I think anytime your own homeland is threatened, you fight with a tenacity that's difficult for us to conceive of if we haven't found ourselves in that same situation."

Tuberville said, "Yeah. They've they have absolutely fought hard. You gotta give it to them."

Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans' Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.