Key points
- Trump issued warning on his social media platform Truth Social
- Retaliation by the Houthis will be met with great force: Trump
- Houthis have carried out multiple attacks on Israeli ships
ISLAMABAD: United States President Donald Trump has threatened to hold Iran responsible for any attacks carried out by the Houthis in Yemen, in an escalation of his pressure campaign against the government in Tehran.
The Republican leader issued the warning on his social media platform Truth Social on Monday, signing the post with his name.
“Let nobody be fooled! The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthi, the sinister mobsters and thugs based in Yemen, who the Yemeni people hate, all emanate from, and are created by IRAN,” Trump wrote.
“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.”
Houthis strikes
The Houthis have carried out multiple attacks on Israeli ships and other commercial vessels in the Red Sea, in response to Israel’s actions in Gaza and its blockade on humanitarian aid to Palestinian territories.
Many experts allegedly agree that Iran plays a key role in arming the Houthis, who are part of an informal “axis of resistance” thought to be supported by Iran.
Although Trump has previously urged Iran to stop backing the Houthis, his comments on Monday suggest a major escalation, implying the possibility of military action against Iran.
“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 wrote in his post, according to Reuters.
The comments arrive at a delicate time diplomatically for Trump and his counterparts in Iran.
Trump has been urging Iran to denuclearise, despite pulling the US out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018 during his first term.
Iran nuclear programme
The JCPOA was an agreement that would have led to Iran limiting its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
Earlier this month, Trump sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warning that the US might take “military” action if a nuclear deal is not reached.
But Khamenei has rebuffed Trump’s attempts to negotiate, dismissing him as “bullying” and pointing to the fact that Trump scuttled the previous agreement, according to Al Jazeera.
Iran has consistently said its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes, and it has denied pursuing a nuclear weapon.
Simultaneously, Trump has heightened US attacks on the Houthis, after the armed group warned last week it would seek to ban Israeli ships from nearby waterways.
Operational area
“Any Israeli vessel attempting to violate this ban will be subject to military targeting in the declared operational area,” the Houthis said in a statement.
Houthis indicated that the ban was a result of the blockade Israel has enforced on Gaza, blocking humanitarian aid from entering the conflict-ridden area since March 2.
However, Israel is a long-standing ally of the US, and in response to the Houthis’ threats, Trump issued one of his own on Saturday.
“Today, I have ordered the United States Military to launch decisive and powerful Military action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen,” Trump wrote over the weekend, ushering in a 24-hour period of intense bombing in Yemen.
Between Saturday and Sunday, the US carried out approximately 47 airstrikes, targeting seven Yemeni provinces and resulting in the deaths of around 53 people.
Sanaa under attack
The Yemeni capital, Sanaa, which is under Houthi control, was one of the affected areas. In his announcement of the weekend strikes, Trump also issued a warning to Iran regarding its support for the Houthis.
“To Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY! Do NOT threaten the American People, their President, who has received one of the largest mandates in Presidential History, or Worldwide shipping lanes,” he wrote.
“If you do, BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it, according to BBC.
Since November 2023, the Houthis have attacked nearly 100 vessels in the region, sinking two of them. Trump is not the first president to target Houthi positions.
His predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden, also ordered several rounds of strikes on Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen.
Disrupting military capabilities
However, Biden and his administration described these attacks as aimed at disrupting the Houthis’ military capabilities, while firmly denying any intention to escalate the violence. “We don’t want to see a regional war,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh stated in 2024.
Trump, on the other hand, dismissed Biden’s actions against the Houthis as “pathetically weak.” The two were rivals in the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost.
In response to Trump’s attacks, the Houthis have vowed retaliation. “We will confront escalation with escalation,” their leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, declared on Sunday. The group has already claimed to have carried out a retaliatory strike on a US naval vessel. On Monday, the US Department of Defense made it clear that attacks from the Houthis would not be tolerated, according to Al Jazeera.
Shooting American troops
“If you shoot at American troops, there will be consequences,” spokesperson Sean Parnell said, touting Trump’s “peace through strength” stance. “We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective.”
Parnell quickly clarified that despite the US’s new threats, Trump was not seeking war. “This is not an endless offensive. This is not about regime change in the Middle East. It’s about prioritizing American interests,” he said.
Colin Clarke, the director of research at the Soufan Group, a consultancy firm, told media that Trump’s escalating rhetoric seems to contradict some of his campaign statements.
Trump’s promise
While running for a second term in 2024, Trump promised to bring peace to the Middle East and withdraw the US from foreign conflicts.
“ Look, Trump has talked endlessly about withdrawing from the Middle East. He doesn’t want to become entangled in foreign wars,” Clarke said. “So it’s interesting that he’s escalating with these kinetic strikes, really as a signal directly to the leadership in Tehran.”
Clarke added that the strikes on the Houthis may be method for Trump to force Iran into nuclear negotiations.
“Trump does hope to get the Ayatollah’s attention with this, and he does hope to use these strikes and potentially more in the coming days and weeks to push the Iranians closer to the table.”
