US airstrikes ‘took out’ multiple Houthi terror leaders, Trump admin says — as Yemen reports 31 killed
US airstrikes “took out” multiple leaders of the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group on Saturday, White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said.
The strikes, which are expected to continue as part of the US military’s largest operation so far under President Trump’s second term, are meant to serve as a direct warning to Iran and a clear escalation from the Biden administration’s previous attacks.
“These were not kind of pinprick, back and forth — what ultimately proved to be feckless attacks,” Waltz told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday morning — a swipe at previous strikes by the Biden administration.
“This was an overwhelming response that actually targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out,” he added. “And the difference here is: one, going after the Houthi leadership, and two, holding Iran responsible.”
Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the large-scale military bombardment across Yemen on Saturday using the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier group.
The carrier has been in the Red Sea to protect global commerce ships and military vessels from the relentless Houthi attacks that began in November 2023, with the Iran-backed terror group plaguing the key trade route in a show of support for Hamas.
The Pentagon estimates that the Houthis have attacked US warships 174 times and commercial vessels 145 times since 2023.
“Houthi attacks on American ships & aircraft (and our troops!) will not be tolerated; and Iran, their benefactor, is on notice,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X.
President Trump praised the attacks on his Truth Social platform, warning that if the Houthis continue their attacks in the region, stronger bombardments will follow.
“To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY,” Trump wrote. “IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!”
It remains unclear how many Houthi leaders were killed in Saturday’s strikes, with the Houthi-run health ministry reporting at least 31 deaths, with another 101 people injured.
The Houthis’ political bureau slammed the attacks as a “war crime,” claiming most of the victims were women and children.
“Our Yemeni armed forces are fully prepared to respond to escalation with escalation,” it said in a statement.
Several of the strikes hit Houthi strongholds in the capital city of Sanaa and in the southwestern city of Taiz, witnesses told Reuters.
Tehran also criticized the strikes as a “gross violation of the principles of the United Nations Charter and the fundamental rules of international law.”
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the US had “no authority, or business, dictating Iranian foreign policy,” he said in response to the Trump administration’s warning.
“End support for Israeli genocide and terrorism. Stop killing of Yemeni people,” he wrote on X.
Hossein Salami, the top Commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards refuted the US claims that Iran was overseeing the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, while warning America that it would take threats levied against Tehran seriously.
“We warn our enemies that Iran will respond decisively and destructively if they take their threats into action,” Hossein Salami told state media.
The attack came just days after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected Trump’s proposal to hold talks over Tehran’s nuclear program.
The Islamic republic is quickly ramping up its enrichment of uranium and getting closer to reaching weapons-grade level, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog group has warned. Iran has repeatedly denied that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons.
With Post wires
