White House: "Houthi airstrikes will continue until US ships lose attack capability"

Waltz National Security Advisor:
"All Options on the Table to Prevent Iran from Acquiring Nuclear Weapons"

The U.S. government announced that it will continue large-scale airstrikes until Yemen's Iran-aligned armed faction, the Houthi, loses the capability to attack Western vessels in the Red Sea.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Rubio stated this in an interview with CBS on the 16th (local time), the day after the U.S. military airstrikes began, emphasizing, "This is an effort to stop the Houthi rebels from continuing to restrict and control maritime navigation."

The U.S. military carried out large-scale airstrikes targeting Houthi bases and leaders the previous day under the orders of President Donald Trump. This marks the first Houthi airstrike by the U.S. military since the start of Trump's second term administration.

Secretary Rubio described the Houthis as "a band of pirates" and reported, "There have been 174 attacks on U.S. Navy warships and 145 attacks on global commercial vessels by the Houthis." He criticized the previous Joe Biden administration's response to the Houthis, saying, "When the Houthis launched a rocket, all they did was attack the rocket launcher," and added, "We will continue (the attacks) until they no longer have the capability to attack us."

Regarding the possibility of ground operations against Houthi strongholds in Yemen, Rubio said, "I don't think there is a need for that at the moment," and stated, "As of last night, some of the key figures involved in missile launches have died, and some of the facilities they used no longer exist."

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegsees also said in an interview with Fox News that day, "We will carry out unrelenting attacks until the Houthis say they will stop military actions targeting U.S. assets and global shipping." He also warned Iran, which has supported the Houthis, to cease further support.

White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz also commented on the Houthi airstrikes, saying, "Last night, we struck the Houthi leadership and eliminated many key leaders." He emphasized, "We sent a warning to Iran, which has funded and supplied weapons to the Houthis."

Advisor Waltz stated, "We are considering all options to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons." He added, "All of Iran's programs are targets. That includes missiles, weaponization, and enrichment," and said, "They can hand it over and give it up in a verifiable manner, or face another series of consequences. But either way, we cannot accept a world where Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, holds the nuclear button in his hand."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.