U.S. officials vowed to continue striking Houthi targets in Yemen after launching airstrikes aimed at stopping the group’s attacks on shipping and naval vessels in the Gulf region.
Speaking on CBS News on March 16, Secretary of State Marco Rubio also made clear that there are no immediate plans to send U.S. troops to directly fight the Houthis, whom Washington has recognised as a terrorist group.” I don’t think there’s a need for that right now,” he said. – “It was [also] a message from Iran-don’t continue to support [the Houthis] because you will also be held responsible for what they are doing by attacking navy ships and attacking worldwide shipping” The March 15 night attack, which included fighter jets launched from a USA aircraft carrier in the Red Sea and rocket attacks, killed 30 people and wounded more than 100, Houthi officials said. The number of casualties could not be independently confirmed. “Houthi attacks on US ships and aircraft (and our troops!) will not be tolerated; and Iran, their benefactor, has been warned of this,” US Defence Secretary Pete Gegseth wrote on social media X. The strike followed President Donald Trump’s warning that” hell will fall on the Houthis” if they continue to fire missiles at ships in the Gulf region and Israel. “They are waging a relentless campaign of piracy, violence and terrorism against American and other ships, aircraft and drones,” he wrote.
The strikes on Yemen were the largest US military operation in the Middle East since Trump took office on 20 January. Media quoted US officials as saying the shelling “is not a one-day action – this is the first of many days, if not weeks of strikes”.
Houthi rebels have launched dozens of attacks on shipping over the past 18 months, saying they seek to support the Palestinians in Israel’s war on Gaza. Many shipping companies have been forced to change their courses to longer and more expensive routes to avoid the Gulf region.
Hosein Salami, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, denied Tehran’s involvement in Houthi operations. “Iran will never start a war … but if anyone threatens us,” state media quoted him as saying. I warn all enemies that we will respond to any threat, if it takes on a practical aspect, with a stubborn, decisive and destructive response,” he said.