The Houthis respond to US attacks in Yemen and Iran threatens a ‘devastating reaction’

This weekend, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced the start of a military operation against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, stating that Washington will not tolerate any more attacks by the Iranian-backed Shiite militia on ships in the Red Sea.

In response, the Houthis claimed on Sunday to have launched an offensive against a US aircraft carrier and its warships in the northern Red Sea, using 18 missiles and drones, in retaliation for the US attack the previous night. 

The US military operation is a response to months of Houthi attacks on vessels on the strategic Red Sea route, a situation that has put world trade in check. Announcing the ‘decisive and forceful’ operation against the Yemeni insurgents, Trump recalled that their attacks ‘have cost the US and global economy billions of dollars, endangering innocent lives’. 

‘They have waged a relentless campaign of piracy, violence and terrorism against US and other countries‘ ships, aircraft and drones,’ Trump said on his social networks, noting that the last US warship to cross the Red Sea, four months ago, was attacked by the terrorist group more than a dozen times. 

In addition to the Houthis, the US president also addressed Iran, the main backer of the Yemeni militia. ‘Support for Houthi terrorists must cease IMMEDIATELY!’ Trump warned.   

The US attacks focused on Houthi targets in Yemen, such as radar systems, air defence systems, weapons warehouses, missile facilities and drone launch bases. 

For his part, the leader of the Shiite Houthi rebels, Abdelkmalek al Houthi, has declared that Washington ‘will not achieve its objectives’ by pressuring the insurgents to stop their attacks on maritime navigation. ‘The new aggression will further develop our military capabilities and we will face escalation with escalation,’ added al-Houthi, who according to Newsweek is in hiding amid this wave of US attacks.

Recently, the Houthis had threatened to resume their attacks on commercial ships and on Israel if Jerusalem did not allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, a measure aimed at pressuring Hamas to agree to extend the ceasefire and release the Israeli hostages held in the Palestinian enclave. 

Since the war in Gaza broke out following Hamas' attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, the Houthis have carried out hundreds of attacks on ships they claim are linked to Israel in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Similarly, the terrorist organisation has also launched attacks on Israeli territory. 

The US offensive will continue until the maritime attacks cease, as announced to Fox by the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, after explaining that this campaign is focused on ‘freedom of navigation and restoring deterrence’.

On the other hand, the Islamic Republic of Iran has also spoken out against the US military operation. Tehran has warned that it will respond in a ‘devastating’ manner to any attack against the country. 

‘I warn all enemies that any threat carried out (against Iran) will provoke a harsh, decisive and devastating reaction,’ said the commander-in-chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, General Hoseim Salami, according to the Mehr agency.

Likewise, Salami wanted to disassociate himself from the Houthis, assuring that the Iranian regime ‘does not have a role in the policies of the resistance groups’ and that the Houthis ‘make their strategic and operational decisions independently’. 

However, Tehran leads, supports and finances the so-called ‘Axis of Resistance’, an anti-Israeli alliance made up of terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis of Yemen and Iraqi militias in Iraq and Syria.