US threatens ‘major military punishment’ for Houthi attacks

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he believed Yemen’s Houthi rebels were duped by Tehran into joining the conflict with the United States.

“The Houthis were largely smart and got away with it throughout the conflict, but now they have clearly gone after Saudi Arabia and their ships,” Rubio told reporters on the sidelines of a summit of the ASEAN Southeast Asian bloc in Manila, Philippines.

“I hope they will de-escalate, because I think the Houthis, frankly, have been trapped in this by the Iranians,” he said.

The militant group controls most of Yemen’s populated areas, including the capital Sanaa, and is allied with Iran. It has begun threatening merchant vessels in the Red Sea in response to an Israeli attack on Gaza in 2023.

The top US official also accused Iran of reneging on its commitments in peace talks.

“These guys make deals and then they break it almost immediately or they decide, ‘Oh, let’s change the deal’. Deals don’t work like that,” he said.

“So now they’re paying the price for it. And they may change their mind in the next few days because they’re suffering huge losses,” Rubio said.

He said he believed Iran was not yet ready for a deal with Washington, but that it could happen soon, while also reiterating the US position that Iran should be “denuclearised”. Iran maintains its nuclear program exclusively for civilian purposes.

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump announced that the previous ceasefire agreement with Iran was “expired”.