On March 15, 2025, President Trump ordered military strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, while also warning Iran to end its support for the group. In a message posted on Truth Social, Trump said, “Today, I have ordered the United States Military to launch decisive and powerful action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen… They have waged an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American and other ships, aircraft, and drones.” He then directed a pointed message toward Iran, saying, “To Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY! Do NOT threaten the American people, their President, who has received one of the largest mandates in presidential history, or worldwide shipping lanes. If you do, BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable.”
The following day, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS News’ Face the Nation, “There’s no way the Houthis would have the ability to do this kind of thing unless they had support from Iran. And so this was a message to Iran: don’t keep supporting them, because then you will also be responsible for what they are doing in attacking Navy ships and global shipping.”
The Trump administration has resurrected the Iranian file to pressure Tehran into abandoning its proxies, such as the Houthis, similar to how it sought to limit Iran’s influence over Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, as well as Hamas in Gaza. This move comes as part of America’s broader strategy to remove U.S. sanctions and reinitiate talks regarding Iran’s nuclear program.
The attack on the Houthis coincided with a letter sent by Trump through a UAE envoy to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. According to an interview with Trump on Fox Business aired on March 16, 2025, Trump reiterated his desire to negotiate a new deal with Iran, with the alternative being military action. “The other alternative is you have to do something because Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. In a statement to reporters on March 14, 2025, Trump added, “We are down to final strokes with Iran. We are down to the final moments. We can’t let them have a nuclear weapon. Something is going to happen very soon. I would rather have a peace deal than the other option, but the other option will solve the problem.”
The Israeli attacks on Gaza exposed Iran’s complicity with the U.S. in the region. Iran coordinated with America to protect Israel by passing intelligence on Hezbollah and Hamas, leading to the destruction of their leadership structures. At the same time, Iran concealed its involvement by launching low-level missile strikes at Israel, with prior warnings to both the U.S. and its allies in the Gulf and Arab world to intercept the missiles. Despite the rhetoric of revenge against Israel, no concrete response was made, as the Biden administration did not want to escalate the conflict, preferring to focus on the China challenge. This was also part of America’s strategy to withdraw from Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and the European theater, including its involvement in Ukraine.
In this context, the Trump administration has focused on quickly resolving the Iran issue, including dealing with the Houthis. Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, have consistently threatened to use the Houthi issue as a pretext to push the U.S. into military action against Iran, citing the threat to Israeli and global shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden. However, due to America’s focus on China, none of the previous administrations—Obama, Biden, or Trump—have bowed to Israeli pressure to engage in a Middle East war. As such, the U.S. has carefully coordinated with Iran to manage Israel during the recent conflict in Gaza.
For its part, Iran has signaled a willingness to abandon its proxies in Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria as a sign of its desire to negotiate with the U.S. on its nuclear program and to lift the crippling economic sanctions. As noted by the Financial Times, “Western diplomats say the government of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian has for weeks signaled more willingness to agree to a negotiated settlement to secure relief and ease domestic economic pressure, but also because of Iran’s weakened position and desire to avoid military confrontation with the U.S. and Israel.” Hardliners in Iran are also beginning to debate the necessity of negotiations to avoid a crisis, with some pushing to pressure Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the elite Revolutionary Guard to act.
This shift is reflected in the statements made by Hossein Salami, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), on March 16, 2025. Salami claimed that the Houthis act independently and make their own strategic decisions, signaling Iran’s distancing from the group. Salami stated, “Yemen is an independent nation with its own policies… The Yemeni people have their national policy. The Houthis, as representatives of the Yemeni people, make their own strategic and operational decisions.”
It seems that Iran has once again acted on Trump’s warning, likely providing the intelligence needed to target and eliminate key Houthi leaders. On March 16, 2025, Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Waltz, confirmed to ABC News that the U.S. strikes targeted multiple Houthi leaders.
By moving to close the Houthi file, Iran has sought to appease the U.S. and avoid further pressure, especially as the U.S. continues to use the Houthi threat to stress European economies and trade through the Gulf of Aden. This remains part of America’s broader strategy to compel European alignment on issues such as Ukraine while focusing on its primary strategic pivot to China.
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