Houthi mounts fresh attack on US warships despite Trump warning Iran

A day after US President Donald Trump warned Iran against backing Houthis, Yemini rebels on Tuesday claimed they carried out their third attack on American warships in 48 hours.
Trump on Monday declared he will hold Iran directly responsible for any future attacks by Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
"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!" Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
In their latest retaliation, the Houthis said on Telegram on Tuesday that they fired missiles and drones at the USS Harry S. Truman, calling it the "third in the past 48 hours" on the fleet in the northern Red Sea, reported news agency AFP.
Houthis also condemned Israel's spate of strikes on Gaza, which the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said killed more than 400 people, vowing to escalate their own operations in support of ally Hamas.
Last week, they had threatened to renew attacks on Israeli shipping over Israel's aid blockade on the Palestinian territory, triggering the first US strikes on Yemen since President Donald Trump took office in January.
The strikes killed at least 31 people in the Houthi-held areas. The rebel group claimed that civilians, including children in the capital Sanaa were among the dead.
Before the attack, Trump had vowed to use "overwhelming lethal force" against Houthis in the back of the rebels' operations in the Red Sea.
The Houthis primarily receive support from Iran, which provides them with weapons, military training, and financial assistance. Iran sees the Houthis as a useful ally in its broader strategy to counter Saudi Arabia and expand its influence in the region.
The Lebanese Hezbollah, another Iranian-backed group, has also reportedly provided military training and strategic guidance to the Houthis. In addition to Iran and Hezbollah, the Houthis have received support from various local tribes in Yemen, particularly those opposed to Saudi influence.
Some reports suggest that North Korea has also secretly supplied them with weapons, though this is less confirmed. The Houthis claim to be fighting against Western imperialism, and in recent conflicts, they have aligned themselves with the Iran-led "Axis of Resistance", which includes groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and various militias in Iraq and Syria.