Iran Guards chief vows ‘decisive’ reprisal against any attacks, after Trump warning
As US president demands Iran end support for Houthis, IRGC general says the group is ‘the representative of the Yemenis,’ and makes its decisions independently from Tehran
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Sunday threatened a “decisive” response to any attack after US President Donald Trump ordered a wave of airstrikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels and warned Tehran to stop backing the group.
On Saturday, Trump said the United States had launched “decisive and powerful military action” to end the Houthi threat to Red Sea shipping and warned that Iran’s support for the rebels “must end immediately.” A Houthi health official said the strikes had killed 31 people.
Iranian Guards chief Hossein Salami denounced Trump’s threats in a televised speech on Sunday, adding that “Iran will not wage war, but if anyone threatens, it will give appropriate, decisive and conclusive responses.”
The commander called the Houthis “the representative of the Yemenis,” adding the group made its “strategic and operational decisions” independently.
In January 2020, during Trump’s first term, the US killed the commander of the Guards’ foreign operations arms, Qassem Soleimani, in a drone strike in Baghdad.
Days later, Iran retaliated by firing missiles at bases in Iraq housing American and other coalition troops. No US personnel were killed, but Washington said dozens suffered traumatic brain injuries.
Earlier Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei “strongly condemned the brutal air strikes by the US” in a statement, denouncing them as a “gross violation of the principles of the UN Charter.”
Iran’s top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, said that Washington had “no authority” to dictate the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy.
“The United States Government has no authority, or business, dictating Iranian foreign policy,” the foreign minister said on X, while urging the United States to stop the “killing of Yemeni people.”
Araghchi said the time when Washington could dictate Tehran’s foreign policy ended in 1979, when the Islamic Revolution ousted the Western-backed shah.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged the United States to cease the strikes, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
Lavrov spoke to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio by telephone, the ministry said.
“In response to the American representative’s arguments, Sergei Lavrov stressed the need for an immediate cessation of the use of force and the importance for all sides to engage in political dialogue in order to find a solution that would prevent further bloodshed,” the ministry said.
The Houthis, who have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade, are part of the “axis of resistance” of pro-Iran groups sworn to the annihilation of Israel and opposed to the US.
The Yemeni rebels have attacked Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Israel-Hamas war in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians, as well as launching direct drone and missile attacks on Israel.
The US strikes on the Houthis are the first on Yemen since Trump’s return to the White House in January.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.