President Joe Biden said that the United States will continue to strike the Huthis in Yemen until the rebels supported by Iran cease attacking ships in the Red Sea. New strikes against the Huthis were begun on Thursday.
The Huthis, who claim to be acting in sympathy with Palestinians in Gaza, were getting ready to launch two anti-ship missiles into the busy shipping route when the US military launched its most recent operation, according to the US military.
Tensions in the Middle East have increased as a result of multiple rounds of airstrikes by US forces against the Huthis since an initial round by the US and Britain last Friday.
Biden, who is seeking reelection in November, admitted that the Western strikes had not yet succeeded in preventing attacks by the Huthis on international shipping.
“When you say ‘working, are they stopping the Huthi?’ No. Are they going to continue? Yes,” Biden told reporters at the White House when asked if the strikes were working.
The White House announced the latest attacks minutes after Biden spoke.
“We did it again this morning, striking at… a couple of anti-ship missiles that we had reason to believe were being prepared for imminent fire into the southern Red Sea,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the missiles in a Huthi-controlled area of Yemen posed an “imminent threat” to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region.
“US forces subsequently struck and destroyed the missiles in self-defense,” it said in a statement.
The attack was conducted out one day after Washington struck 14 Huthi rockets and reclassified the Huthis as a “terrorist group” on Wednesday.
