Trump warns Iran will be ‘held responsible’ for Houthi attacks from Yemen

In a further expansion of his pressure against Tehran’s government, US President Donald Trump has threatened to hold Iran accountable for any attacks carried out by Houthi rebels in Yemen.

On Monday, the Republican leader signed the post and posted it on his social media account Truth Social under his name.

“Don’t let anyone fool you!” The Yemeni people hate the Houthi, the sinister mobsters, and the thugs who live there, all come from IRAN, and they are all responsible for the hundreds of attacks that are carried out by them, Trump wrote.

There is no guarantee that the “Houthis” will stop at any additional attack or retaliation there.

In protest of Israel’s conflict in Gaza and its blockade of humanitarian supplies into Palestinian territory, the Houthis have launched numerous attacks against Israeli vessels and other commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

According to experts, Iran contributes to the arming of the Houthis, who are viewed as a form of informal “axis of resistance” supported by Iran.

Trump has previously urged Iran to give up its support for the Houthis, but his remarks on Monday suggest a significant uptick and suggest a possible military strike against Iran.

“Iran will be held accountable, suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire,” declares the statement “every shot fired by the Houthis will be treated from this point forward as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN.” Trump stated in his post.

Trump and his Iranian counterparts are at a delicate diplomatic crossroads as a result of these remarks.

Trump has been urging Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons, despite the president’s decision to withhold the US from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a resolution that would have allowed Iran to reduce its nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief, in 2018.

Trump warned the US would act “militarily” if a nuclear deal is not reached in a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei earlier this month.

Khamenei has criticized Trump’s attempts to negotiate, calling him “bullying,” and citing the fact that Trump violated the previous agreement.

Iran has consistently denied developing nuclear weapons and has consistently stated that its nuclear program is intended for civilian use.

Trump has also increased US attacks on the Houthis in response to the armed group’s warning last week that it will try to outlaw Israeli ships from nearby waterways.

Any Israeli ship that attempts to violate this restriction will be targeted by the military in the designated operational area, according to a statement from the Houthis.

Since March 2, Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza, which has hampered the movement of humanitarian aid into the war-torn territory.

Trump, however, has a long history of supporting the US, and he responded to the Houthis’ threats with one of his own on Saturday.

Trump wrote over the weekend, quoting the US military as “to launch decisive and powerful military action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen,” ushering in a 24-hour period of intense bombing.

The US reportedly carried out 47 aerial strikes on Saturday and Sunday, killing 53 people and striking seven Yemeni provinces. Sanaa, the Houthis’-controlled capital, was one of the affected regions.

Trump also issued a warning about Iran’s support for the Houthis in an announcing the weekend attacks.

“To Iran, support for Houthi terrorists must end right away!” Do not threaten the American people, their president, or the world’s shipping lanes, he wrote.

“Beware if you do, because America will hold you fully accountable and that America won’t treat you like that”!

Since November 2023, the Houthis have sunk two vessels in the area, and Trump is not the first president to launch attacks against Houthi targets.

Democratic President Joe Biden, who presided over Trump, ordered numerous attacks on Yemeni areas under Houthi control.

However, Biden and his administration asserted that the attacks were intended to sabotage the Houthis’ military might, and they vehemently denied that the violence was intended to escalate. In 2024, Sabrina Singh, a spokesperson for the Pentagon, said, “We don’t want to see a regional war.”

Trump, however, criticized Biden’s “pathetically weak” opposition to the Houthis. In the 2020 presidential election, Trump lost, he and Biden squared off.

Meanwhile, the Houthis have vowed to respond to Trump’s attacks. Their leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, declared on Sunday, “We will confront escalation with escalation.”

The organization has already made claims that a US naval ship was targeted in retaliation.

According to Colin Clarke, the director of research for the consultancy Soufan Group, Trump’s increasingly heated rhetoric seems to contradict some of his campaign-trail statements.

Trump pledged to end US foreign wars and bring peace to the Middle East when he campaigned for a second term in 2024.

Trump has talked incessantly about leaving the Middle East, “Look.” He doesn’t want to be a part of foreign wars, Clarke said. It’s interesting that he’s using these kinetic strikes as a direct signal to Tehran’s leadership, so to speak.

Clarke added that Trump might use the Houthis’ strikes as a means of compel Iran to enter nuclear negotiations.

Source: Aljazeera