The United States bombed more than a dozen Houthi targets in Yemen on Friday in a series of airstrikes against Iranian-backed rebels.
Military aircraft and warships attacked militant strongholds and their weapons systems in five locations days after US warships were attacked in the Red Sea.
The joint operation with the British military is a sign of serious escalation, as the Middle East still waits to see whether Israel will retaliate against Iran for its rocket fire earlier this week.
Operations had been limited to shipping channels and military bases.
Houthi media said seven strikes hit the airport in Hodeidah, a major port city, and the Katheib area, which has a military base controlled by the Houthis.
The United States attacked more than a dozen Houthi targets in Yemen with airstrikes on Friday.
Four more attacks hit the Seiyana area in Sanaa, the capital, and two attacks hit Dhamar province.
The Houthi media office also reported three airstrikes in Bayda province, southeast of Sana’a.
The rebels fired more than half a dozen ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles and two drones at three American ships sailing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but all were intercepted by Navy destroyers, according to several American officials.
The Houthi rebels also claimed on Monday to have shot down another US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the country. The Houthis have also launched missiles at Israel.
Earlier on Friday, Iran’s supreme leader held a rifle at his side as he addressed worshipers in Tehran in a rare public sermon, days after the missile attack on Israel.
It was the first sermon by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 80, in almost five years, addressed today to the faithful of the Mosalla Grand Mosque of Imam Khomeini, in the center of Tehran.
It came three days before the first anniversary of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, sparked by the Oct. 7 attack by the Iran-backed Palestinian group.
The joint operation with the British military is a sign of serious escalation, as the Middle East still waits to see whether Israel will retaliate against Iran for its rocket fire earlier this week.
Khamenei said the attack, which sparked the war between Israel and Hamas, was “logical and legal” for “right-wing” Palestinians.
Among the crowd, some fervent supporters outraged by a year of hostilities held portraits of slain Hamas and Hezbollah allied leaders.
Khamenei, addressing his audience primarily in Arabic, took the opportunity to call Hezbollah’s battle a “vital service to the region,” warning that Israel “won’t last long.”
Iran-backed Houthi militants have been launching repeated attacks on maritime targets in the Red Sea, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza following Israel’s military response to the October 7 attacks.
The United States has responded with counterattacks on Houthi weapons stockpiles and reinforced naval assets in the region.
In early August, following a Houthi attack on a container ship in the Red Seat, US forces attacked Houthi targets in Yemen, including anti-ship cruise missiles.
The US CENTCOM said the weapons “posed a clear and imminent threat to US and coalition forces as well as merchant vessels in the region.”
More to follow