Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Andrew Harnik
Topics: Donald Trump, Iran
Emily Brown
Donald Trump has doubled down on his warnings towards Houthi rebels after the group vowed 'further escalation' in the wake of air strikes from the US.
Trump took to Truth Social today (March 17) with a series of claims about the rebels after he previously announced on March 15 that he had 'ordered the United States Military to launch decisive and powerful Military action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen'.
The Houthi group has been accused by the POTUS of 'an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism' as they continue to show support for Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas.
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As part of their efforts, the group - which controls Sanaa and the north-west of Yemen - has been targeting vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
After being hit by the US air strikes, the Houthis responded: "This aggression will not go without response and our Yemeni armed forces are ready to answer escalation with further escalation."
Now, Trump's latest comments on the situation have claimed that the attacks are being 'created by Iran'.
In his post, he wrote: "Let nobody be fooled! 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."
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The president went on to issue a threat against the rebel group, saying: "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.
"Iran has played “the innocent victim” of rogue terrorists from which they’ve lost control, but they haven’t lost control. They’re dictating every move, giving them the weapons, supplying them with money and highly sophisticated Military equipment, and even, so-called, “Intelligence"."
Trump went on to say that every new shot fired by the rebel group will be 'looked upon, from this point forward' as being a shot fired 'from the weapons and leadership of IRAN'.
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"IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!" he wrote.
Trump's comments come after Iranian General Hossein Salami denied on Sunday that Iran had backed the rebel group.
In a speech broadcast in Farsi, the official language of Iran, he said: "We are not a nation to live in hiding. We are a valid and legitimate system in the world. We announce it if we attack anywhere."
Salami added in his address that the country would have a 'decisive and devastating response to any threat'.