US strikes Houthis; Trump holds Iran accountable for Red Sea attacks

Smoke rises after US airstrikes on the capital, Sanaa, in Yemen on March 15. Photo / via Getty Images

• US President Donald Trump declared Iran responsible for future attacks by Yemen’s Tehran-backed Houthi rebels.
• Trump’s comments followed US strikes on Yemen, killing 53 people and wounding 98.
• The Houthis claimed attacks on a US aircraft carrier, citing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

US President Donald Trump on Monday declared he will hold Iran directly responsible for any future attacks by Yemen’s Tehran-backed Houthi rebels, who have targeted multiple US and other foreign ships in the Red Sea.

“Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

While the United States has been carrying out strikes on Houthi targets for months, Trump’s comments were unusually pointed at Iran, which he is also pressuring over nuclear talks.

He spoke after the first US strikes on Yemen of his new term killed 53 people and wounded 98 on Saturday.

In response the Houthis claimed two strikes on a US aircraft carrier and rallied thousands at protests in parts of Yemen under their control.

The United States struck the Houthis over their repeated attacks on Red Sea shipping vessels, which have put a major strain on the vital trade route.

The Houthis have said they are carrying out the attacks in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is waging a war with US support.

“Any further attack or retaliation by the ‘Houthis’ will be met with great force,” Trump also said in his post, adding that “Iran has played ‘the innocent victim’” in the conflict.

Before this weekend’s targeting of the US carrier group, the Houthis had not claimed attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since January 19, when a ceasefire in Gaza began.

Trump, who ran for a second White House term in part based on avoiding further involvement in Middle East conflict, has also called for a new nuclear deal with Iran while reinstating his “maximum pressure” policy of sanctions.

- Agence France-Pressese