U.S. President Donald Trump warned Yemen's Houthi rebels on Wednesday that they will be completely annihilated as American airstrikes targeted areas they control. He also increased pressure on Iran, the group's main supporter.

The Houthi's al-Maisrah satellite news channel said Wednesday night that strikes had struck both the rebel-held capital of Sanaa and their bastion of Saada in the northwest of the country. It showed footage of firefighters fighting a fire in Sanaa and reports of damage at what it said was a sheep farm in al-Jawf. The statement also mentioned that the strikes took place overnight on Tuesday. However, the U.S. military has not provided details about the specific targets since the airstrike campaign began. The initial strikes over the weekend resulted in at least 53 deaths, including children, and left several others injured.

Following the strikes, Trump stated on his Truth Social platform that the Houthi fighters had suffered significant damage. “Watch how it will get progressively worse. It's not even a fair fight, and never will be,” Trump said. “They will be completely annihilated!” Meanwhile, Trump again warned Iran against supplying arms to the Houthis. He claimed, without providing evidence, that Tehran had reduced its efforts in providing military equipment and general support to the group. He further said, “Iran must stop the sending of these Supplies IMMEDIATELY, he wrote.” 

Iran has a history of supplying weapons to the Houthis, a group belonging to Islam's minority Shiite Zaydi sect that ruled Yemen for 1,000 years until 1962. Although there is physical evidence, multiple weapon seizures, and expert reports linking the arms to Iran, Tehran consistently denies arming the rebels. This is likely because Iran aims to avoid sanctions for breaching the United Nations arms embargo on the Houthis. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency acknowledged Trump's remarks and referred to previous comments made by Iran's UN ambassador, Amir Saeed Iravani, who called Trump's claims baseless. Between November 2023 and January this year, before a ceasefire in Gaza began, Houthi rebels attacked over 100 merchant ships using missiles and drones. 

These attacks sank two vessels and killed four sailors. The campaign significantly boosted the Houthis' influence in the Arab world while reducing public criticism of their human rights violations and crackdowns on dissent and aid workers. On Thursday, the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency admitted that the rebels had taken food aid from a World Food Program warehouse without permission, stating they took about 20% of the available supplies. In February, the U.N. suspended its operations in Saada due to security concerns after several U.N. workers and others were detained. One staff member from the World Food Programme (WFP) died while in Houthi custody.