After another strike against the Houthis in Yemen, President Joe Biden seemed to be patting himself on the back for a job well done. The Houthis seemed less impressed, vowing a “strong and effective retaliation” in response. But the real power behind the Houthis is Iran, of course. Public statements from Tehran have been few and far between lately. Surprisingly, Biden was actually asked by a reporter yesterday what sort of message had been sent to Iran. In a somewhat cryptic response, the President said that a message had been delivered to Iran “privately” and that he’s confident that we are “well prepared.” He then jetted off to Camp David, no doubt exhausted by the couple of days he spent in Washington. (NY Post)

President Biden said Saturday that the United States has “privately” delivered a message to Iran over its backing of Houthis targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

As he was heading to Camp David for the weekend, Biden was asked Saturday what message was being sent to Iran through a pair of attacks targeting dozens of facilities in Yemen controlled by the Tehran proxies.

“We delivered it privately and we’re confident we’re well prepared,” the president answered.

On Friday, US officials said the Navy destroyer USS Carney fired off Tomahawk land missiles that struck a Houthi radar site being used to target ships in the Red Sea.

I’m still trying to parse out what Biden’s remarks even mean. One might think that the missiles would have been enough of a “message” for both the Houthis and the Iranian mullahs. But those weren’t “private” in any way. The attacks were making headlines all over the world. So does that mean that the White House has a private line of communications with Tehran and a literal message was sent?

If that’s the case, what is the point of keeping this secret? Biden or one of his spokespeople should have come out and delivered that message to the world in a forceful fashion. Leaving everyone guessing as to what sort of deals might be in the works behind the curtains doesn’t exactly instill confidence. This is particularly true when looking at the situation in the context of Biden’s previous actions regarding Iran. He has bent over backward trying to cut a deal with the Iranians, enriching them beyond their wildest dreams even as they continued to fund terrorist activity around the globe.

In a worst-case scenario, Biden could have privately sent a message to Tehran reassuring them that the conflict wouldn’t spread beyond the Houthis in Yemen. I hate to even consider the possibility, but we simply can’t rule it out entirely. That’s why the message should have been made public as soon as it was sent.

It’s also worth pointing out yet again that when Joe Biden was asked about this, he was being interrupted on his way to Camp David. The situation in Gaza is boiling over and causing unrest at the United Nations. The war in Ukraine shows no signs of abating and a significant debate over more aid to that country is taking place. Meanwhile, China has already begun threatening Taiwan over the results of this week’s elections. The border remains a disaster, despite the best efforts of the Governor of Texas. Is this really a time when the Commander in Chief should be continuing his seemingly endless vacations and campaign stops?

At the same time, Iran’s UN representative, Amir Saeid Iravani, had a message of his own for Biden and the rest of NATO. He said, “any country engaging in this military aggression or subsequent hostilities may expose itself to potential danger.” He also suggested that either American or British vessels could now be seen as “a justified operational target” for Houthi attacks, claiming that it was Israel’s plan all along to drag the United States directly into the war. It would be nice to know if we actually have anyone with their hand on the steering wheel at this juncture.