United States has committed to ongoing military attacks on Yemen’s Houthi rebels until they stop attacks on commercial vessels, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday. His remark came a day after at least 31 individuals were killed by US airstrikes in Yemen, the largest US military action in the Middle East since President Donald Trump was sworn into office last January.
The Houthis, who are an Iran-aligned faction that holds control of most of Yemen, decried the strikes as a “war crime” and threatened to retaliate. “We are ready to respond to escalation with escalation,” the political bureau of the group stated, while Russia called on the US to stop its military campaign.
Hegseth defended the strikes, saying they were necessary to protect global shipping and deter Iranian influence in the region. “The minute the Houthis stop shooting at our ships, we’ll stop targeting them,” he said in an interview. Trump also issued a direct warning to Iran, the Houthis’ primary supporter, saying that if Tehran continued its backing, it would be held “fully accountable.”
Iran reacted with a scathing retort, with Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami asserting that the Houthis are acting independently and that Iran would “decisively” react if threatened. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio re-emphasized Washington’s position, accusing Iran of facilitating the Houthis’ targeting of commercial ships.
The airstrikes targeted multiple Houthi military targets, as well as a residential neighborhood in Sanaa, where witnesses described catastrophic damage. The city of Taiz and a power plant in Dahyan were also struck, resulting in widespread power blackouts.
As tensions reach a boiling point, fears are increasing that the war will increasingly interrupt global commerce and widen into a wider regional conflict.
