US President Donald Trump has directly threatened Iran following a continued threat posed by its allies – the Houthi rebels in Yemen – who claimed responsibility for targeting ships in the Red Sea
A US drone withdrew from Iranian airspace after one of the country’s fighter jets encountered, Iran claims.
An American MQ-4C spy drone withdrew after it patrolled close to its airspace, according to Yossi Mansharof, a senior fellow at the Israel national security Misgav Institute. It withdrew shortly after it encountered an Iranian F14 jet and reconnaissance drones, claimed Iranian website Noor News, which is affilaited with the country’s government.
The incident comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to hold Iran responsible should its allies in Yemen – the Houthis – fire upon any commercial ships in the Red Sea as well as on Israel, a key ally of Washington DC. In a statement shared to his social media platform TruthSocial, Mr Trump warned of major consequences for Iran.
“Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN,” Mr Trump said. “IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!”
Mr Trump has aimed to apply huge pressure on Iran, with the aim of eliminating any nuclear threat posed by the country against Israel. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent previously said the administration of Mr Trump wanted to collapse Iran’s economy.
The US launched a series of airstrikes against the Houthis over the weekend. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday the strikes would continue until the rebels stopped their attacks.
He told Fox News: “This campaign is about freedom of navigation and restoring deterrence. The minute the Houthis say we’ll stop shooting at your ships, we’ll stop shooting at your drones, this campaign will end. But until then, it will be unrelenting.”
The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, began launching attacks on ships in the Red Sea in 2023. It said the attacks were in support of Hamas, which was at war with Israel following the brutal killing and kidnapping of civilians on October 7 that year.
The strikes caused chaos for international shipping companies, some of which decided to reroute their vessels that would normally pass through the Suez Canal.