A day after the US pounded the Houthi militant targets in Yemen, American officials said that such airstrikes would continue “indefinitely”. On Saturday, the US conducted the first round of strikes in Yemen, killing at least 53 people and injuring over 100. Washington said that the strikes aimed to punish the Houthis for their attacks against global shipping on the Red Sea.
What makes the Saturday strike significant is the fact that this was the first strike the US conducted against Houthis after US President Donald Trump returned to the White House. While speaking to Fox News, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said: “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 who argued that the strikes were designed to signal Washington’s assertive approach towards Iran and, more generally, West Asia. In a separate interview, US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz noted 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”.
All sides remain alert
While announcing the American strikes in Yemen, Trump issued stern warnings to both Houthis and Iran. “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!” Trump wrote on TruthSocial on Saturday. “To Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY!” he added.
Content retrieved from: https://www.firstpost.com/world/us-says-strikes-on-houthis-in-yemen-will-continue-indefinitely-as-iran-pledges-to-respond-destructively-13871937.html.
