Trump warns that the US will attack Yemen if the Houthis block the Red Sea

WashingtonThe fronts stemming from the Iran war are only multiplying for the US president, Donald Trump. Tuesday's meeting with his Lebanese counterpart, Joseph Aoun, was to focus on the next steps of the preliminary agreement for the withdrawal of Israeli troops in the south of the country. A conflict that Washington and Israel are trying to remove from the regional equation, even though the Iranian regime demanded an unconditional ceasefire to Lebanon in the memorandum signed in Versailles. But, even so, the Republican has had to answer not only questions about Hezbollah but also about the Houthis of Yemen.

Trump stated that the United States is prepared to act if the Houthis fulfill their threat to block the Red Sea. "If something like that happens, we will take care of it. We have done it before, with the Houthis, and we haven't heard from them in a long time, since we did what we did initially," the US president assured in reference to the bombings carried out by the Pentagon in early 2025. Since the Iran war broke out at the end of February and the Strait of Hormuz was closed, one of the great fears was that the Yemeni group, an ally of Tehran, would enter the conflict and further stifle international trade with a second blockade.

At US gas stations, gasoline is already exceeding $4 per gallon again, and market nervousness is only growing in the face of Houthi threats. On Tuesday morning, several shipping companies received a warning from the militia not to disembark or load at any port in Saudi Arabia, under threat of becoming a military target. According to maritime transport data from the British group LSEG, two tankers that had loaded Saudi crude and were en route to China turned back after the warning.

Tenth night of attacks

Aoun has met with Trump after US forces carried out the tenth consecutive round of attacks against Iran during the early morning. The United States Army's Central Command (Centcom) has stated that the targets included military command centers, as well as missile and drone launch positions. In parallel, Tehran has reported that it has launched new attacks against Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan, countries in the region that have American military bases.

The Kuwaiti government has accused Iran of again targeting the country's critical infrastructure, as they attacked power plants and water desalination plants the previous day. The exchanges of fire in recent days have caused the deaths of at least three US soldiers, while Iran has intensified its attacks and expanded the range of its targets.

Regarding Lebanon, Trump told his counterpart that he is willing to negotiate with Hezbollah if he wishes. "If President [Aoun] asked me to speak with Hezbollah, I would do so," he said. The Shiite group has never accepted the preliminary agreement reached between Beirut and Tel Aviv, which includes the militia handing over its weapons. Ibrahim Moussawi, considered Hezbollah's spokesman in the Lebanese Parliament, rejected the agreement and warned that forcing disarmament could cause a civil war in the country.