Jason Burke
The Guardian / March 16, 2025
Strikes began on Saturday with the aim of punishing Iran-backed armed group for attacks on Red Sea shipping.
Jerusalem – US officials have said airstrikes launched against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis will continue indefinitely, after a first round on Saturday killed at least 53 people and injured almost 100 more.
The strikes, which aim to punish the Houthis for their attacks against Red Sea shipping, are Donald Trump’s first such use of US military might in the region since he took power in January.
Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, told Fox News: “The minute the Houthis say ‘we’ll stop shooting at your ships, we’ll stop shooting at your drones’, this campaign will end, but until then it will be unrelenting.”
Hegseth was among several senior officials underlining that the strikes were designed to signal a new assertive approach to Iran, and more generally in the Middle East.
Michael Waltz, the US national security adviser, said in separate interviews that the strikes “targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out” and had involved “overwhelming force [that] put Iran on notice that enough is enough”.
Earlier, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: “To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!”
He added: “To Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY!”
Official White House photos showed the president, wearing a Trump-branded golf shirt, watching the airstrikes on a display screen identified as being in Florida; video posted by social media users suggested Trump had earlier in the day been at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach and at the nearby Trump International golf club.
On Sunday Anees Alsbahi, spokesperson for the Houthi-run health ministry, said five children and two women were among the 53 people killed in the US strikes. Another 98 people were injured, the ministry said.
The Houthis, an armed movement who have taken control of most of Yemen over the past decade, say they have targeted international shipping in solidarity with Palestinians and Hamas, which is also backed by Iran.
The Yemeni group has also launched missiles, drones and rockets at Israel since the beginning of the war in Gaza. Israeli officials said on Sunday they were investigating a missile launched from Yemen that landed in Egypt close to the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to check if it had been aimed at Israel.
Fighter aircraft shot down a combined 11 drones on Sunday fired by the Houthis, a US official told Reuters, following Houthi claims of an attempt to attack a US aircraft carrier off Yemen’s coast.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the drones did not come close to the Harry S Truman aircraft carrier, which has played a key role in Trump’s strikes on Yemen.
The top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responded to the US threats by saying the Houthis were independent and took their own strategic and operational decisions.
“We warn our enemies that Iran will respond decisively and destructively if they take their threats into action,” Maj Gen Hossein Salami told state media.
In a statement shared by state media, Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the strikes on Yemen as a “gross violation of the principles of the United Nations charter and the fundamental rules of international law”.
The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the US government had “no authority, or business, dictating Iranian foreign policy”. “End support for Israeli genocide and terrorism. Stop killing of Yemeni people,” he said in a post on X early on Sunday.
Washington has already increased sanctions pressure on Iran while trying to bring it to the negotiating table over its nuclear programme. A key question for regional observers is whether Trump may use military means against Tehran, possibly after pressure from Israel.
The US military’s central command, which oversees troops in the Middle East, described Saturday’s strikes as the start of a large-scale operation across Yemen. The strikes on Saturday were carried out in part by fighter aircraft from the Harry S Truman aircraft carrier, which is in the Red Sea. They could continue for weeks, one Pentagon official said.
The Houthis are seen as key actors in the “axis of resistance”, a loose regional coalition of militant groups built up by Iran over recent years to project force and put pressure on Israel.
The group is considered the only member of the coalition not to have been significantly weakened by Israel during the war in Gaza since October 2023 and the short conflict in Lebanon last year. Both Hamas and Hezbollah, once the most powerful member, have suffered significant losses.
The Houthis’ political bureau described the attacks as a “war crime”. “Our Yemeni armed forces are fully prepared to respond to escalation with escalation,” it said in a statement.
Residents in Sana’a said the strikes hit a neighbourhood known to host several members of the Houthi leadership.
“The explosions were violent and shook the neighbourhood like an earthquake. They terrified our women and children,” said one resident, who gave his name as Abdullah Yahia.
A crane and bulldozer were used to remove debris at one site in the city and people used their bare hands to pick through the rubble. At a hospital, medics treated the injured, including children, and the bodies of several casualties were placed in a yard, wrapped in plastic sheets, Reuters footage showed.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, on Sunday called for “utmost restraint and a cessation of all military activities” in Yemen. A new escalation could “fuel cycles of retaliation that may further destabilise Yemen and the region, and pose grave risks to the already dire humanitarian situation in the country”, his spokesperson said in a statement.
The previous administration in Washington, under Joe Biden, had sought to degrade the Houthis’ ability to attack vessels off Yemen’s coast but had limited US actions.
On Tuesday, the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli ships passing through the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, the Bab al-Mandab strait and the Gulf of Aden, ending a period of relative calm starting in January with the Gaza ceasefire.
A Pentagon spokesperson said the Houthis had attacked US warships 174 times and commercial vessels 145 times since 2023.
Jason Burke is the International security correspondent of The Guardian
Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed reporting
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US airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthis kill at least 31
Jason Burke
The Guardian / March 16, 2025
Up to 100 injured after Trump orders strikes in response to shipping attacks.
Jerusalem – The US has launched airstrikes against Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, killing at least 31 people and injured up to 100 more, in Donald Trump’s first such use of US military might in the region since he took power in January.
US officials have said the airstrikes, which aim to punish the Houthis for their attacks against Red Sea shipping, may continue for weeks.
The US president on Saturday warned Iran, the Houthis’ main backer, to immediately halt support for the group and said if Iran threatened the US: “America will hold you fully accountable and we won’t be nice about it!”
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: “To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!”
The Houthis say they have targeted international shipping in solidarity with Palestinians and Hamas, which is also backed by Iran.
The Yemeni group has also launched missiles, drones and rockets at Israel since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
The top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responded on Sunday by saying the Houthis were independent and took their own strategic and operational decisions.
“We warn our enemies that Iran will respond decisively and destructively if they take their threats into action,” Maj Gen Hossein Salami told state media.
Washington has already increased sanctions pressure on Iran while trying to bring it to the negotiating table over its nuclear programme. A key question for regional observers is whether Trump might use military means against Tehran, possibly after pressure from Israel.
The US military’s central command, which oversees troops in the Middle East, described Saturday’s strikes as the start of a large-scale operation across Yemen. The strikes on Saturday were carried out in part by fighter aircraft from the Harry S Truman aircraft carrier, which is in the Red Sea, officials said.
The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, wrote on X: “Houthi attacks on American ships & aircraft (and our troops!) will not be tolerated; and Iran, their benefactor, is on notice.”
US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump had authorised a more aggressive approach.
The Houthis, an armed movement who have taken control of most of Yemen over the past decade, are seen as key actors in the “axis of resistance”, a loose regional coalition of militant groups built up by Iran over recent years to project force and pressure Israel.
The group is seen as the only member of the coalition not to have been significantly weakened by Israel during the war in Gaza since October 2023 and the short conflict in Lebanon last year. Both Hamas and Hezbollah, once the most powerful member, have suffered significant losses.
Most of the casualties in the US strikes were women and children, said Anees al-Asbahi, the spokesperson for the Houthi-run health ministry, on Sunday.
The Houthis’ political bureau described the attacks as a “war crime”. “Our Yemeni armed forces are fully prepared to respond to escalation with escalation,” it said in a statement.
People in Sana’a said the strikes hit a building in a Houthi stronghold. A man who gave his name as Abdullah Yahia told Reuters: “The explosions were violent and shook the neighbourhood like an earthquake. They terrified our women and children.”
Strikes also targeted Houthi military sites in Yemen’s south-western city of Taiz, two witnesses in the area said on Sunday. Another strike, on a power station in the town of Dahyan in Saada, led to a power cut, Al-Masirah TV reported early on Sunday. Dahyan is where Abdulmalik al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthis, often meets his visitors.
A Pentagon spokesperson said the Houthis had attacked US warships 174 times and commercial vessels 145 times since 2023.
The previous administration in Washington, under Joe Biden, had sought to degrade the Houthis’ ability to attack vessels off Yemen’s coast but limited US actions.
In a statement shared by state media, Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the strikes on Yemen as a “gross violation of the principles of the United Nations charter and the fundamental rules of international law”.
The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the US government had “no authority, or business, dictating Iranian foreign policy”. “End support for Israeli genocide and terrorism. Stop killing of Yemeni people,” he said in a post on X early on Sunday.
On Tuesday, the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli ships passing through the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, the Bab al-Mandab strait and the Gulf of Aden, ending a period of relative calm starting in January with the Gaza ceasefire.
The US attacks came days after the delivery of a letter from Trump to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, seeking talks over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Khamenei on Wednesday rejected negotiations with the US.
Last year, Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defences, in retaliation for Iranian missile and drone attacks, reduced Tehran’s conventional military and air defence capabilities, according to US officials.
Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon but has dramatically accelerated the enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the weapons-grade level of approximately 90%, the UN nuclear watchdog has said.
Jason Burke is the International security correspondent of The Guardian
Reuters contributed to this report
