US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warns Iran of consequences for backing Yemen’s Houthis, as the US military intensifies its air campaign. Over 1,000 Houthi targets have been hit since mid-March.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday warned Iran that it would pay the consequences for its continued support for the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
“Message to IRAN: We see your LETHAL support to The Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing,” Hegseth wrote in a post on X.
“You know very well what the US Military is capable of — and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing,” he added.
The US Army launched a military campaign against the Houthi rebels in mid-March.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that the United States has conducted over a thousand airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen since the start of the campaign.
According to a statement from Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, “USCENTCOM strikes have hit over 1,000 targets, killing Houthi fighters and leaders… and degrading their capabilities.”
Earlier this week, CENTCOM reported that the number of targets struck since March 15 stood at over 800, with hundreds of Houthi combatants killed during the operations.
President Donald Trump recently stated that the Houthis would be “completely annihilated” and added that Iranian support would only impede but not stop the Houthis’ destruction.
Trump later said that the Houthis now want peace because the US attacks on them have been very successful, while stressing that those strikes will continue for a very long time.
It has long been believed that Iran is planning to use the Houthis to take over Yemen and seize the key strategic port of Aden, which controls the entrance to the Red Sea and ultimately to the Israeli resort city of Eilat.
Iran has denied accusations that it provided the Houthi rebels with ballistic capabilities, even after the US Navy seized an Iranian weapons shipment bound for Houthi rebels in Yemen.
