Iran says US strikes on Yemen are ‘crime’ and warns it will respond to aggression on its territory

Iran on Monday described the US strikes attacking the Houthis in Yemen as “a crime” and denounced US threats against Tehran, pledging to respond decisively in the event of an attack on its territory.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday said the strikes on the Iran-backed group were “about stopping the shooting at assets … in that critical waterway [the Red Sea], to reopen freedom of navigation, which is a core national interest of the United States, and Iran has been enabling the Houthis for far too long. They better back off”.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in his weekly press briefing that Tehran “will respond decisively to any aggression against Iran's territorial integrity, security, and national interests, and there is no doubt about this”.

The Houthis have carried out scores of attacks on shipping after the war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023. The US on Saturday launched large-scale military strikes against Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen over the group's attacks attacking Red Sea shipping, in the largest military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January.

“The US military attack on Yemen, which unfortunately is not the first time, is definitely a crime and is condemned as it is carried out in violation of all the principles and norms of the United Nations Charter and international law,” Mr Baghaei said.

Mr Trump blamed Iran, which backs the Houthi movement, for the group's attacks on shipping. “The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthi, the sinister mobsters and thugs based in Yemen, who are hated by the Yemeni people, all emanate from, and are created by, Iran,” he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

“Any further attack or retaliation by the Houthis will be met with great force, and there is no guarantee that that force will stop there.”

At least 53 people, including five children, were killed and 98 others were injured in the first round of strikes, Houthi Health Ministry spokesman Anis Al Asbahi said.

The group claimed on Monday to have attacked the USS Harry S Truman twice in 24 hours, calling it retaliation for the deadly US strikes. The Houthis said they had launched 18 missiles and a drone at the ship in the Red Sea, without providing evidence.

In a statement posted to Telegram on Monday, a representative said the attacks on the carrier group were “in retaliation to the continued American aggression against our country”.

The strikes come as the US is exerting so-called maximum pressure on Iran and its proxies in the region. Mr Trump has increased sanctions on Tehran while trying to convince the regime to return to the negotiating table over its nuclear programme. Mr Trump sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, offering to hold talks on Tehran's nuclear programme.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tehran would respond once a full review of the letter was conducted. “Our response will be provided through the appropriate channels once the assessment is complete,” Mr Baghaei said. “The content of the letter is not far removed from Trump's public statements and repeats the same talking points,” he added.

Mr Khamenei and Iranian officials have rejected negotiations under pressure.