President Trump has put Iran on notice that the United States will hold Iran accountable and responsible for Houthi attacks. Using his Truth Social account as the medium, Trump said, "Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!"

🚨 Statement from @POTUS: pic.twitter.com/x94WfqMSNM

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 17, 2025

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. 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.” Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!

The Houthis seem to have gotten Trump's attention with their March 12 announcement that they would resume attacks on Israel and shipping in the Red Sea. One of the many low points of Joe Biden's four-year misrule was allowing the Iranian-backed Houthis to shut down one of the world's critical maritime chokepoints. That pushed Egypt's government to the brink of insolvency because of the loss of fees for Suez Canal passage and added two weeks to the average shipment from China to Europe by forcing ships to travel around the Cape of Good Hope; see Will Joe Biden Leave Office the Same Way He Came In - With a Massive US Military Defeat? – RedState.

Since then, the US has launched at least two rounds of air attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen (NEW: Trump Orders Large-Scale Attacks on Houthis, Embarrasses Joe Biden in the Process – RedState), which have gone unanswered except for rhetorical flourishes by Houthi spokesmen; Impotence: Houthis Claim Attack Launched on US Aircraft Carrier - Navy Barely Noticed – RedState and Delusional: Houthis Threaten US With Images of Flag-Draped Coffins – RedState.

RELATED:

NEW: Houthis Engage US Aircraft With Surface-to-Air Missile – RedState

Houthi Rebels Kidnap United Nations Humanitarian Workers—UN Suspends Operation – RedState

Trump Fixes Major Biden Mistake, Reinstates Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization – RedState

Those attacks may not let up until the Houthis relent on their closure of the Red Sea or until there isn't anything left in Yemen worth bombing; 'Peace Through Strength Is Back'—SecDef Hegseth Vows 'Unrelenting' Campaign Against Houthis – RedState.

Today's announcement is something of a surprise as Trump has sent a letter to Tehran offering to negotiate a nuclear deal with the mullahs,  and Russia has offered to be our intermediary; OPINION: The Trump Administration Seems to Think THIS TIME We Can Get a Proper Russia Reset – RedState.

In principle, Trump is correct in both his demarche to the Houthis and his warning to Iran. We are dependent upon freedom of the seas for both imports and exports. We can't allow a terrorist group that happens to control a nation to interfere with international commerce any more than we could allow 18th-century pirates to do the same. There are those who see something else here besides freedom to trade.

Regarding US activity in Yemen: I recently said to watch for a new military engagement to compensate for the pull back in Ukraine. The Military Industrial Complex demands about $50 billion a year from our government, above and beyond what’s necessary to defend our own country. https://t.co/uoMjYIi2Xg

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 16, 2025

This is crunch time for Trump. At least one American is still alive in Gaza despite receiving a "last warning;" see Hamas Defiantly Blows Off Trump's 'Last Chance' Ultimatum, Refuses to Release Hostages - Now What? – RedState. The attacks on the Houthis over the last few days may not have been expected, but they are not as heavy as many of the strikes carried out under Biden. To make any dent in the ability and willingness of the Houthis to stop attacking Israel and Red Sea shipping will require more strikes and more bomb tonnage than has been delivered this week or since the Houthis closed the Red Sea to most commercial traffic. The big question mark is Iran. Will Trump actually move economically or militarily against the mullahs based on the Houthis taking a potshot at a ship in the Red Sea?