President Trump To Ask Iran To Account For Houthi Attacks

JAKARTA - United States President Donald Trump said on Monday he would hold Iran accountable for any attacks carried out by Tehran-backed Houthi groups in Yemen, as his administration expands its largest US military operations in the Middle East since he returned to the White House.

In response to the threat of the Houthis' movement against international shipments, the US launched a new wave of airstrikes on Saturday. On Monday, the port city of the Red Sea of Hodeidah and Al Jawf provinces north of the capital Sanaa were targeted, Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said.

"Every shot released by the Houthis will be seen, from now on, as shots fired from IRAN's weapons and leadership, and IRAN will be held accountable, and suffer the consequences, and the consequences will be dire!" Trump said on his Truth Social platform, quoted by Reuters on March 18.

The White House said President Trump's message to Iran was to take the United States seriously.

The Pentagon said it had attacked more than 30 locations so far and would use enormous lethal force against the Houthis until the group stopped the attack. Pentagon principal spokesman Sean Parnell said the goal was not a regime change.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Alex Grynkewich, director of operations at the Joint Staff said the latest campaign against the Houthis was different from that carried out under former President Joe Biden, as the range of targets was wider and included senior Houthi drone experts.

Grynkewich said dozens of Houthi members were killed in the attack. The Biden administration is believed not to target the Houthi senior leaders.

Earlier, the Houthi-run health ministry said on Sunday at least 53 people were killed in the attack. Five children and two women were among the victims and 98 people were injured, he said.

Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Sunday militants would target US ships in the Red Sea as long as the US continues to attack Yemen.

Under the direction of al-Houthi, who is in his 40s, the rebel group has become an army of tens of thousands of fighters and obtained weapons in the form of unmanned aircraft and ballistic missiles.

Saudi Arabia and the West say the weapons are Iranian. Tehran denies it.

While Iran supports the Houthis, the Houthis deny to be Tehran puppets, and experts in Yemen say they are primarily motivated by the domestic agenda.

A Houthi military spokesman, without providing evidence, said in a televised statement on Monday morning that the group had launched a second attack on US carrier USS Harry S.men in the Red Sea.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the number of victims.

The Houthis, the armed movement that has controlled Yemen's most populous territory despite nearly a decade of being bombed by Saudi Arabia, have launched a number of attacks on ships off its coast since November 2023, which disrupted global trade.

A US official told Reuters the attack might continue for weeks. Washington has also stepped up sanctions against Iran while trying to bring it to the negotiating table regarding its nuclear program.

The Houthis said their attack, which has forced companies to change the ship's route to a further and more expensive journey around southern Africa, was a form of solidarity with the Palestinians when Israel attacked Gaza.

The US and its allies consider it an indiscriminate act and a threat to global trade.