Iran's proxies could go 'underground' to gain new advantage, nominee for Centcom chief says

US Vice Admiral Brad Cooper also says world is a safer place with Iran pushed further from building nuclear weapon

Iranian proxies such as Hezbollah and Hamas are significantly degraded, but they could pose future problems by “going underground”, the nominee to head the US Central Command said on Tuesday.

Vice Admiral Brad Cooper was speaking before a Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing focused on his selection to lead Centcom, which is tasked with overseeing US military interests and assets in the Middle East.

“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 in the future,” he said.

He added that, having visited Israel's subterranean commando unit that goes after groups that operate from tunnels, he suggested focusing on sensors and ammunition to combat the threat.

An Israeli soldier inside a Hamas tunnel in Gaza. Vice Admiral Brad Cooper suggests focusing on sensors and ammunition to combat the threat of such militant structures. Reuters

Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza and is engaged in a protracted war with Israel, relies on an extensive network of tunnels. Using these tunnels, the group has been able to carry out attacks – including the 2023 offensive on southern Israel – build weapons, and smuggle materials and people throughout the coastal enclave and even across borders.

“Whether we're talking about Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, the Iranians, other adversaries are clearly watching and see where they can gain advantage,” Vice Admiral Cooper said.

With regard to Iran, Vice Admiral Cooper acknowledged the possibility of an Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz but said Centcom was ready to respond.

“It is a complex problem, for sure, but it's a small, narrow waterway,” he told senators. “The key to this is getting to the left of the problem, establishing a deterrent posture, which we have today, and then keeping our eyes on Iranian activity.”

A ship sails in the Strait of Hormuz. The US says it has deterrence in place to prevent Iran from blocking the vital waterway. EPA

Iran's Parliament on Sunday threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway through which about 20 per cent of the world's petroleum is shipped, in response to US strikes on Tehran's nuclear infrastructure a day earlier. Closing it could have dire consequences for global energy markets.

Senators raised the idea that Iran could attempt to lay mines across the strait, blocking commercial traffic, and asked how quickly the US could respond. Vice Admiral Cooper said the specifics were highly classified, “but historically in mine warfare, nothing happens quickly – I think we would think of this in terms of weeks and months, not days”.

The US on Saturday carried out an attack against three sites that make up the core of Iran's nuclear programme, out of fear the country had been close to developing a nuclear weapon. Israel launched a “pre-emptive” attack on Iran days earlier, with the stated goal of stopping it from building a nuclear weapon.

A damage assessment is continuing and it is unclear whether the strikes resulted in the obliteration of Iran's uranium enrichment capabilities, as has been claimed by the White House.

But Vice Admiral Cooper said the world is a safer place with Iran being pushed farther away from building a nuclear weapon.

Dozens killed in US strikes on Houthi-controlled fuel port

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He added, however, that Iran still has “significant tactical capability” despite the strike, as demonstrated by its limited retaliatory missile strike on a US military base in Qatar. Responding to a senator who asked whether Tehran still poses a threat to US troops and Americans, he said: “They do.”

On the Iran-backed Houthis, with the ceasefire between the Yemeni group and the US having lasted 40 days, Vice Admiral Cooper said the ball was in their 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,” he said, noting that freedom of navigation has been restored to the Red Sea.

US President Donald Trump ordered an intense, daily bombing campaign of Houthi positions in Yemen after the group continued to launch strikes against commercial shipping. The Houthis, who are allied to Hamas, began striking commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea with the advent of the Israel-Gaza war, vowing to target any ship believed to be connected to Israel.

Despite the ceasefire and restored freedom of navigation, Vice Admiral Cooper cautioned that “it took several months for the flow of commerce to leave the Red Sea; I would expect it's going to take several months for it to fully come back”.

Lt Gen Alexus Grynkewich, who appeared alongside Vice Admiral Cooper to make his case for becoming Supreme Allied Commander Europe, added that the “Houthis are likely to be a persistent problem”.