Iran dismisses Trump's warning, denies control of Yemen's Houthis
Tehran has condemned the US and UK military strikes against the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen, rejecting US President Donald Trump's warning against its support for the militant group which it continues to say acts independently of Iran.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed Trump's message on X, saying, "The United States government has no authority, or business, dictating Iranian foreign policy. That era ended in 1979."
Trump had ordered military action against the Houthis and warned the Houthis' main backer, Iran, to "immediately stop their support," adding, "If you do, BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!"
Araghchi also criticized the US for supporting Israel citing the Palestinian death toll in Gaza. “More than 60,000 Palestinians killed, and the world holds America fully accountable.”
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ismail Baghaei echoed these sentiments, denouncing the air attacks on Houthis as a clear violation of international law and the UN Charter.
Baghaei called on the UN Security Council to address what he described as the threat to international peace and security.
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander Hossein Salami categorically denied US accusations of Iranian control over the Houthis' actions.
"We have always declared, and we declare today, that the Yemenis are an independent and free nation in their own land and have an independent national policy," Salami stated.
"Ansarullah, as the representative of the Yemenis, makes its own strategic decisions, and the Islamic Republic of Iran has no role in setting the national or operational policies of any movement in the resistance front, including Ansarullah in Yemen," he noted.
US officials, according to the New York Times, said the strikes were intended as a warning to Iran, and Reuters reported that the strikes could continue for days or weeks.
The Houthis, who have controlled significant portions of Yemen for the past decade, have unleashed a barrage of attacks on Red Sea vessels since November 2023 following the Israeli offensive in Gaza against another Iran-backed group, Hamas in Gaza.
The attacks have massively impacted global trade and triggered a resource-intensive US military operation to counter the movement's missile and drone strikes.
US strikes in Yemen have killed at least 31, mostly women and children, according to Houthi officials, who called the attacks a "war crime."
"Our Yemeni armed forces are fully prepared to respond to escalation with escalation," the Houthis' political bureau stated.
Strikes targeted Houthi strongholds in Sanaa and Taiz, and a power station in Dahyan, a location often used by Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi.
The Pentagon cited 174 Houthi attacks on US warships and 145 on commercial vessels since 2023. According to US officials cited by Reuters, Trump has authorized a more aggressive approach than the previous Biden administration.
