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‘Iran will pay’ for backing Houthis, Trump’s defense chief vows

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth castigates Iran over its aid to Yemenite Houthis, vows Tehran will suffer from American reprisal.

By World Israel News Staff

The Trump administration threatened military action against Iran over the Islamic republic’s assistance to Houthi rebels in Yemen.

On Wednesday night, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth tweeted a “Message to Iran,” castigating Tehran for arming the Houthis and vowing Iran will “pay the consequence” for its “lethal support” of the designated Yemenite terror group.

“Message to IRAN: We see your LETHAL support to The Houthis,” Hegseth tweeted Wednesday night.

“We know exactly what you are doing. You know very well what the U.S. Military is capable of — and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing.”

The veiled threat comes amid ongoing talks between the Trump administration and Iran in Oman, with three rounds of indirect negotiations held thus far.

American forces have struck over 1,000 targets in Yemen since the middle of March, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced on Tuesday.

Hundreds of Houthi terrorists have been killed in the strikes, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday.

Officially known as Ansar Allah, the Houthis were designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the first Trump administration, though the Biden administration dropped nixed the move just weeks later.

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The Biden administration imposed lesser sanctions on Ansar Allah in 2024, labelling it a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group.

This March, Trump returned Ansar Allah to the FTO blacklist.

Aligned with the Zaydi Shi’ite religious sect, a minority group in the majority Sunni country, Ansar Allah’s membership is made up primarily of members of the Houthi tribe.

With Iran’s backing, Ansar Allah has challenged the Yemenite government for control of the country since the 1990s, and currently controls more than a quarter of Yemen’s territory.