White House says ‘multiple’ Houthi leaders killed, Iran ‘on notice’
A White House official on Sunday said a wave of US airstrikes on Yemen killed senior leaders from the Houthi militia and sent a message to their Iranian backers.
US President Donald Trump said he had ordered Saturday night’s strikes and threatened more if the Houthis kept up their attacks on Red Sea and Gulf of Aden shipping.
Witnesses to the bombing said on Sunday they were taken aback by its intensity.
US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz told ABC News the strikes “targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out.”
He told Fox News: “We just hit them with overwhelming force and put Iran on notice that enough is enough.”
Waltz also reiterated a US warning that “all options are on the table” to prevent Iran from attaining a nuclear weapon.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the US would conduct “unrelenting” strikes against the Houthis in Yemen until the militant group ceases their military actions targeting US assets and global shipping.
Speaking on Fox News on Sunday, Hegseth said the campaign “will continue until you say ‘We’re done shooting at ships. We’re done shooting at assets,’” Hegseth said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” program on Sunday that US strikes on Yemen will continue until the Houthis no longer have the capability to attack global shipping and the US Navy.
He said there was no talk of US ground raids in Yemen, adding: “I don’t think there’s a necessity for it right now.”
Rubio also said that there was “no way” the Houthis would have the ability to attack global shipping without support from Iran.
Trump last month sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei proposing nuclear talks and saying that in the absence of a deal the matter could be handled “militarily.”
Tehran chafed at that suggestion, saying it would not negotiate while being “threatened.”
Waltz, in his ABC interview, said flatly: “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. All options are on the table to ensure it does not have one.”
He added: “They can either hand it over and give it up in a way that is verifiable, or they can face a whole series of other consequences, but either way, we cannot have a world with the ayatollahs with their finger on the nuclear button.”
Trump, posting on social media, vowed to “use overwhelming lethal force” to end the Houthi attacks, which the militia says are in solidarity with Palestinians during the Gaza war.
“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!” he said.
Trump also issued a stern warning to Tehran.
“To Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY!” he said.