Washington, DC – Donald Trump has renewed his call for Iran to end its support for the Houthis, pledging that the Yemeni group will be defeated by the United States.
The US president’s comments on Wednesday came a day after the Houthis claimed attacks targeting American warships in the Red Sea area, as well as a missile launch against Israel.
Wednesday also marked yet another day of US strikes on Houthi strongholds in Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa.
“Tremendous damage has been inflicted upon the Houthi barbarians, and watch how it will get progressively worse — It’s not even a fair fight, and never will be,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “They will be completely annihilated!”
This month, the US has launched several waves of attacks against the Houthis, who control Sanaa and present themselves as the country’s official armed forces.
Since 2023, the Houthis have been targeting ships in and around the Red Sea and launching missiles at Israel in an effort, they say, to pressure the Israeli government to end the war on Gaza.
The group paused its Red Sea attacks during the Gaza truce but restarted them earlier this month, in response to Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory.
The Houthis also resumed their direct military operations against Israel after the Israeli military broke a two-month ceasefire, killing hundreds of Palestinians this week.
The administration of former US President Joe Biden also bombed Houthi positions in Yemen, but Washington’s campaign failed to stop the group’s attacks.
In his social media post on Wednesday, Trump cited “reports” claiming that Iran is decreasing its support for the Houthis but is still “sending large levels of Supplies”.
“Iran must stop the sending of these Supplies IMMEDIATELY,” he wrote. “Let the Houthis fight it out themselves. Either way they lose, but this way they lose quickly.”
Trump previously threatened Iran with retaliation if it does not rein in the Houthis.
While the Houthis — known formally as Ansar Allah — are allied with Iran, it is not clear how much they rely on Iranian support or whether Tehran can order them to stop their attacks.
But Trump has portrayed the Houthis as an arm of the Iranian government.
“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 on social media on Saturday, when the latest US bombing campaign started.
For their part, the Houthis have dismissed the US threats and airstrikes, vowing to continue their attacks until Israel ends its assault on Gaza.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces affirm that the US aggression will not deter the steadfast and struggling Yemen from fulfilling its religious, moral, and humanitarian duties toward the Palestinian people,” the group said in a statement on Tuesday.
“They affirm that they will escalate their military operations against the Zionist enemy unless the brutal aggression on Gaza stops and the blockade is lifted.”
Trump blacklisted the Houthis as a “foreign terrorist organisation” in the early days of his presidency this year. The Biden administration had labelled the group as “specially designated global terrorists” — a slightly lower designation that involves fewer restrictions.
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