March 16, 2025 (EIRNS)—A U.S. military operation against Houthi forces in Yemen was carried out on March 15, with strikes launched from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and its accompanying warships. This came after the Yemeni armed forces had announced on March 12 that they had resumed a ban on shipping in the Red Sea that was linked to Israel, because of the reimposition of the Israeli blockade against Gaza which is producing genocidal results. As of Sunday evening, March 16 (Washington, D.C. time), the Yemeni Health Ministry reported that the death toll had climbed to 53, including 5 children, with over 100 injured.
President Donald Trump announced the attack on his Truth Social page: “Today, I have ordered the United States Military to launch decisive and powerful Military action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen. They have waged an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones….
“Funded by Iran, the Houthi thugs have fired missiles at U.S. aircraft, and targeted our Troops and Allies.… We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective.”
Trump directly addressed the Houthis: “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!” (caps in original).
He went on to threaten Iran as well: “To Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY! Do NOT threaten the American People, their President, who has received one of the largest mandates in Presidential History, or Worldwide shipping lanes. If you do, BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!”
Trump’s threats against Iran followed hot on the heels of a March 14 meeting in Beijing of the deputy foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and China to seek a negotiated solution to the U.S.-Iran conflict. One week earlier, on March 9, those same three countries launched joint naval maneuvers from the Arabia Sea port of Chabahar, Iran.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke on March 15 with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, according to an official American readout of the call, and “informed Russia of U.S. military deterrence operations against the Iran-backed Houthis and emphasized that continued Houthi attacks on U.S. military and commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea will not be tolerated.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry readout added Russia’s rejoinder: “Sergey Lavrov, in response to the arguments by the American representative, stressed the need for all parties to immediate cease the use of force and the importance for all sides to engage in political dialogue so as to find a solution that would prevent further bloodshed.”
Both readouts reported that the parties had “also discussed next steps to follow up on recent meetings in Saudi Arabia and agreed to continue working towards restoring communication between the United States and Russia,” the U.S readout stated.
It is noteworthy that on March 16 the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei also blamed the U.K. for the ongoing attacks on Yemen, and “denounced the U.S. and U.K. military aggression against Yemen,” according to the Tasmin News Agency.
