The Islamic Republic of Iran has threatened the US with bloodcurdling revenge after president Donald Trump said they would be held responsible for attacks by the Houthis in Yemen.
The Middle Eastern nation’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on state television that any country who attacked his would ‘receive a severe blow.’ His warnings were then amplified on social media.
The tyrant’s threats come after president Trump on Monday explicitly linked the actions of Yemen’s Houthi rebels to the group’s main benefactor, Iran, warning Tehran it would ‘suffer the consequences’ for further attacks against the west by the group.
Describing the Houthis as ‘sinister mobsters and thugs,’ Trump warned any attack by the group would be met with ‘great force, and there is no guarantee that that force will stop there.’
‘Iran has played “the innocent victim” of rogue terrorists from which they’ve lost control, but they haven’t lost control,’ Trump wrote in his post.
‘They’re dictating every move, giving them the weapons, supplying them with money and highly sophisticated Military equipment, and even, so-called, “Intelligence.”‘
In a marked departure from the previous administration, Trump has given US Central Command the authority to launch offensive strikes against the Houthis when it deems it appropriate.
The comments by Trump on his Truth Social website escalate his administration’s new campaign of airstrikes targeting the rebels, which killed at least 53 people this weekend alone.
The Islamic Republic’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said this week that any country who attacked his would ‘receive a severe blow’
The threat comes after president Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran would be held responsible for attacks by the Houthis in Yemen against the west
US officials said the strikes were carried out against more than 40 targets and more airstrikes were planned in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the Iranians continue to weigh how to respond to a letter Trump sent them last week trying to jump-start negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.
Iran is not believed to have constructed such a weapon, but has vowed to wipe Israel from the map as soon as it becomes nuclear-capable.
Houthi supporters rallied in several cities Monday after the strikes, vowing revenge against America and Israel over blocking aid to the Gaza Strip after its war on Hamas there.
The Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel put young boys on air live, who chanted the group’s slogan: ‘God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.’
‘The Yemeni position is an irreversible position (regarding Gaza), so do whatever you (Americans) want, for we are men who fear no one but God,’ said Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a Houthi leader who spoke to the demonstration in Yemen’s rebel-held capital, Sanaa.
The United Nations called for a halt to all military activities in Yemen and the Red Sea, urging ‘utmost restraint’ and warning that ‘any additional escalation could exacerbate regional tensions,’ U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Monday.
The weekend strikes targeted headquarters positions and drone sites where what the Pentagon identified as ‘key leaders’ for the Houthis’ drone program were located at the time, said Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Pentagon said there was no evidence that any civilians were killed in the attacks. However, Houthi officials earlier said women and children had been killed in the strikes.
Images show aircraft launching from a US carrier moments after Trump ordered airstrikes over Sanaa, Yemen
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations delivered a strong rebuke Monday to Trump’s recent rhetoric about the Islamic Republic, saying Trump and U.S. officials are making “reckless and provocative statements” and threatened to retaliate if those words turn to actions.
In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said his country would ‘defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national interests under international law against any hostile action.’
It’s unclear what sparked Trump’s post on Truth Social. However, the head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard sought to separate the Houthis’ actions from those of Tehran this weekend. The Houthis also launched drones and missiles targeting the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, though none reached the ship as it continues flight operations in the region.
‘Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!’ Trump added.
The Houthi rebels attacked over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, from November 2023 until January this year when a ceasefire began in Gaza. The campaign also greatly raised the Houthis’ profile in the wider Arab world and tamped down on public criticism against their human rights abuses and crackdowns on dissent and aid workers.