The United States has launched extensive air strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, aiming to curb their threat to shipping while also signaling a warning to Iran.
In a statement announcing his directive on March 15, US President Donald Trump also warned Iran to “immediately” end its support for the Houthis and vowed to hold Tehran “fully accountable” if it threatened Americans or shipping lanes.
On March 17, Trump turned up the heat, posting on his Truth Social platform that “the hundreds of attacks made by the Houthi, who are hated by the Yemeni people, 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 the force will stop there,” he wrote.
The strikes come as Iran is weighing its response to a letter by Trump on direct talks over Tehran’s nuclear program, and possibly its regional activities and missile development.
SEE ALSO: Iranian 'Spy Ship' In Spotlight As U.S. Seeks Retaliation Against TehranMichael Horowitz, head of intelligence at the Bahrain-based Le Beck International consultancy, said he believes the attack on Houthi targets may well have something to do with Iran’s opposition to direct talks with the Trump administration.
“There is a message being sent in the type of weapons used, including sea-launched missiles,” he told RFE/RL. “Nuclear negotiations haven’t started, and Trump is threatening to use force if diplomacy doesn’t work. This is a way to show that he is serious.”
How Are The Attacks Different From Past Strikes?
Designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, the Houthis, who are formally known as the Ansarallah movement, seized power in Yemen in 2014 by toppling the internationally recognized, Saudi-backed government.
Soon after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, the Houthis began launching attacks on Israel and targeting ships in the Red Sea believed to be sailing to or from Israel. The group said this was in solidarity with the Palestinians.
The attacks stopped after a fragile cease-fire went into force in January, but the Houthis have threatened to resume their attacks if aid does not flow into Gaza.
SEE ALSO: Russia And Yemen's Huthis United In Their Animosity Toward The WestLast year, US and British militaries carried out multiple air strikes against the Houthis, but the new wave of attacks seems to be different.
Horowitz said the administrations of former US President Joe Biden was focused on defensive and pre-emptive strikes, targeting weapon depots and weapons just before they were launched.
“Trump appears to have widened the scope of those strikes to include Houthi officials and offices. I would not discount that we’ll even see a campaign of targeted assassinations,” he added.
The Houthis have vowed to retaliate and claimed to have launched 18 drones and missiles against USS Harry S. Truman on March 16. The United States has not commented on the claim, but reports citing unnamed US officials say the drones were intercepted and the missiles did not reach the warship.
The Yemeni group claims US strikes have killed dozens of people, including children. But White House national-security adviser Mike Waltz said on March 16 that the United States “took out” multiple Houthi leaders.
How Has Iran Responded To The US Air Strikes?
The X account of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on March 16 posted a quote from the top Iranian decision-maker dating back to 2020, in which he insisted that the “nation of Yemen is definitely victorious.”
“The only path is that of resistance. That which has caused the US and its allies to panic today is the fact that the Muslim nations are standing firmly and that this resistance will prove to be effective,” the post read.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi criticized the Trump administration for demanding that Tehran cut ties with the Houthis, saying that US government “has no authorities or business dictating Iranian foreign policy.”
Meanwhile, Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), rejected assertions that Iran influences the Houthis, insisting that Tehran “has no role” in the Houthis’ decision-making process.
SEE ALSO: Fall Of Assad Unravels Iran's Decades-Old 'Axis Of Resistance'The Houthi movement is a key member of the Iran-led "axis of resistance," a network of non-state actors that has suffered major setbacks over the past year. The movement has particularly risen in stature as a defender of the Palestinian cause since it started hitting Israel and alleged Israeli-linked vessels.
Horowitz said the Houthis’ rising profile within the axis of resistance gives them some level of autonomy, but they are ultimately an Iranian proxy.
“They are still extremely dependent on Iran for weapons they use regularly so they will follow Iran's lead in my opinion,” he added.