The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vowed on Sunday that Iran would respond “decisively” to any threat or act of aggression following President Trump’s warning to Tehran over Yemen.
“Iran will never be the initiator of war, but in the event of a threat, the response will be firm, decisive, and conclusive,” said Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, according to Iran’s PressTV.
A day earlier, President Trump announced a major bombing against Yemen’s Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, and warned Iran in a post on Truth Social that “Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY!”
Trump continued, “Do NOT threaten the American People, their President, who has received one of the largest mandates in Presidential History, or Worldwide shipping lanes. If you do, BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!”
In response, Salami denied the claim that Iran was supporting the Houthis militarily. “The president of the United States has once again attributed the operations carried out by Yemen’s Ansar Allah to Iran and has warned the Iranian people to stop their support for the resistance group,” he said.
Salami said that Yemen’s forces act independently. “Iran openly and clearly accepts responsibility for any actions it takes, when and where they occur,” he said. “We are not a nation that operates under the cloak of secrecy; rather, we are a legitimate and globally recognized entity. When we undertake any military action or lend our support, we will declare it openly and unequivocally.”
Tensions have been rising between the US and Iran since President Trump re-imposed his “maximum pressure campaign” on the Islamic Republic and began increasing sanctions. Trump has also hinted at the possibility of taking military action against Iran if a deal on its nuclear program isn’t reached, even though he has acknowledged that Iranian leadership doesn’t seek a nuclear weapon.
