On Monday, President Donald Trump warned Iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, that any attack by the Iranian-supported Houthis in Yemen on the United States would be viewed as having come from Iran.
Last week, the United States reportedly used B-2 stealth bombers to strike underground weapon storage facilities used by the Houthis, a terrorist group based in Yemen that has sunk multiple ships and attacked dozens more throughout the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over the last year. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said that bombers targeted “hardened underground facilities housing missiles, weapons components, and other munitions used to target military and civilian vessels throughout the region.”
“Let nobody be fooled!” President Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthi, the sinister mobsters and thugs based in Yemen, who are hated by the Yemeni people, all emanate from, and are created by, IRAN. Any further attack or retaliation by the ‘Houthis’ will be met with great force, and there is no guarantee that that force will stop there.”
“Iran has played ‘the innocent victim’ of rogue terrorists from which they’ve lost control, but they haven’t lost control,” Trump declared. “They’re dictating every move, giving them the weapons, supplying them with money and highly sophisticated Military equipment, and even, so-called, ‘Intelligence.’”
“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, and those consequences will be dire!” Trump warned.
CENTCOM forces continue operations against Iran-backed Houthi terrorists… pic.twitter.com/zEWykoDKQR
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 17, 2025
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth vowed over the weekend that the U.S. military would continue to pound Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen until they declare that they will cease all attacks on commercial shipping and military assets in the region.
Hegseth made the remarks during a Sunday interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” while discussing the strikes in Yemen on Saturday night, in which dozens of terrorists were killed.
“We’re sitting on four years of deferred maintenance from Joe Biden, where in particular, when you talk about the Houthis, they were allowed for over 100 times to shoot at U.S. ships, to shoot at commercial shipping,” he said. “Four months ago, when we sent a ship through, it was shot at 17 times.”
“Ships haven’t been able to go through for over a year without being shot at. Freedom of navigation is basic,” he continued. “It’s a core national interest, and President Trump has said, we will restore that and we will be unrelenting.”
Hegseth also repeatedly stated during the interview that Iran had better not get involved in the U.S.’s campaign against the Houthis.
Ryan Saavedra contributed to this article.
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