17.03.2025 – 21.03.2025 Weekly Presents

US President Donald Trump launched a major military strike on Yemen’s Houthi rebels on March 15.

The strikes were launched after the rebels attacked ships in the Red Sea, killing 31 people on the first day of the strikes and are expected to continue for several more days.

Trump also warned Iran, the main backer of the Houthis, that it must immediately end its support for the Houthis.

Trump said the US would hold Iran fully accountable if Iran threatened the US and would not treat it well.

A US official told Reuters the strikes could last for weeks.

The strikes were the largest US military operation in the Middle East since Trump took office in January.

The attack on the Houthi rebels comes as the United States seeks to bring Iran to the negotiating table over its nuclear program and imposes sanctions on Iran.

“To all you Houthi thugs, your time is up. Your attacks must end today. If you do not, you will face a tragedy like you have never seen before,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The U.S. strikes killed 31 people and wounded 101, most of them women and children, Anis al-Asbahi, a spokesman for the Houthi-controlled health ministry, said on March 16.

The Houthi political bureau described the attacks as war crimes.

“Our Yemeni armed forces are fully prepared to respond to violence with violence,” the Houthi group said in a statement.

Residents in the capital Sanaa said the US strikes hit a building in an area where the Houthi rebels have a strong foothold.

Residents said the strikes also targeted Houthi military bases in southwestern Yemen and a power plant in the city of Dayan, where Houthi leaders often hold meetings.