US and UK militaries strike Iranian-backed Houthi sites in Yemen

I'm D Walters live in Atlanta We are following breaking news tonight on the debrief us and British Marines have now begun bombing sites that are occupied by Iranian Bak houthis inside of Yemen this of course in retaliation for dozens of attacks on the group on warships in the Red Sea some of them British some of.

Them American by some counts more than 100 missiles and suicide drones were launched last weekend alone We are following the situation as it develops we want to take you live right now to our White House correspondent Haley bull haey what is the White House saying so far and and have we actually heard from anybody in control and.

Command D no official word out of the White House this evening but we are learning from sources familiar that the Administration has been in contact with Congressional leaders uh about the plans to strike houthi Targets in Yemen is Source familiar telling us uh that that they have been in touch with the leaders in the leadup and after execution the.

Associated Press reporting tonight that the US and UK militaries bombed more than a dozen sites citing uh us officials now this marks a significant advance in the United States response uh to the houthi attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea which despite sanctions despite an international uh coalition to deter the.

Attacks statements from the United States and dozens of other countries and the administration's warnings uh to stop have continued the most recent attack uh early this morning against international shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aiden according to Central Command that marked uh the 27th attack the started back in mid November the administration uh has.

Faced more pressure from lawmakers specifically Republican lawmakers about their response who felt uh that the administration stance was not aggressive uh enough now the attacks have been described the attacks from uh the houthis today have been described as complex using attack drones and unprecedented use of anti-ship ballistic.

And cruise missiles now the White House has been uh very careful in broadcasting uh their steps and response but uh has warned the houthis as recently as this afternoon uh publicly both in statements and from uh the White House briefing Podium of consequences if they did not stop the attacks noting uh the consult ations they've been having uh with.

Allies and partners uh on this front uh now of course the United States believes uh the huies are backed by Iran uh but listen to what Senator Warner had to say about that earlier today while there is a coalition of 18 Nations that are trying to um stand up to the hoodies and take down their drones or take down their attacks to attack shipping I hope.

Other Nation States some of the nation states in the Middle East like Saudi Arabia and some some of the nation states like China and India who are depending on some of this shipping they need to be part of this Coalition as well uh but the hoodie leadership um is probably of all the proxy groups had the Iranian control is the least amongst the.

Hoodie leadership and earlier today the houthis threatened retaliation for any potential strikes uh from the United States we are of course keeping a close eye uh on this deel V in situation but again Dow a significant escalation in the United States response amid these ongoing attacks in the Red Sea uh that have.

Threatened a large swath of commercial shipping and have generated a lot of concern for uh the global economy given uh just the sheer volume of ships that pass through that area D our haly Bo reporting live from the White House Force tonight haly thank you very much I want to go to Hussein Abdul Hussein who is a research fellow with the foundation.

For the defense of democracies uh Hussein thanks for being with us tonight uh there have been fears now that this conflict will widen Israel and Hezbollah trading rocket fire now the United States and Britain attacking the houthis the common denominator is Iran are we there well I don't think that uh this is connected to Gaza of course the common.

Denominator is Iran and this begs the question uh why do the huis get uh uh bombed and hammered for interrupting uh uh shipping lanes but not Iran because we know that Iran has boarded and kidnapped many vessels now so I don't see I I don't see that there's an organizing principle I don't see that there's a US policy to deal.

With Iran in a comprehensive way uh we're just on the rebound here and uh uh we are reacting to the action that the huis have initiated now thankfully we're showing the hthis some muscles I'm not sure how much muscles we're showing them uh but let's hope that whatever we did tonight will deter the huis for some time as you know the houthis have been.

Uh the United States rather has been exercising restraint until now until this weekend in fact but the houthis have been attacking United States warships and also attacking the British in the Red Sea and also causing major problems economically if they manag to to shut down the Straits but that being the case many people believe this.

Weekend attack was more coordinated because it involved missiles and it involved suicide drones they say that information that level of coordination could only have come from Tyron is that true well I agree I I don't think that the huthis have the uh capabilities to uh do whatever they're doing uh I think there's.

Consens among most western capitals that whatever military performance that we see in Yemen uh comes from Iran actually uh these things have been documented there have been ships uh stopped on the way from Iran to it seems that our shot with Mr Hussein has frozen but we want to go back to haly Bull at the white house.

While we are reestablishing Communications with Mr Hussein Hy I understand we now have heard from the White House yeah D that is exactly right statement from the president out in the last few minutes uh confirming that he directed uh US military forces uh and really a multi- National Coalition here.

The UK uh with support of it says Australia Bahrain Canada and the Netherlands conducted strikes against Targets in Yemen used by the houthi forces uh he noted that these are in response to the attacks against uh shipping in the Red Sea which we detailed uh that have gone back to Mid November where the houthis uh have.

Carried out at least 27 uh attacks including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles an unprecedented uh move seen from that uh the president stating quote today's defensive action follows this extensive diplomatic campaign and houthi Rebels escalating attacks against commercial vessels these targeted strikes are a.

Clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our Personnel or allow hostile actions to imperil freedom of navigation and one of the world's most critical commercial routs uh now keep in mind there has been immense concern about uh the economic impact uh of the houthi attacks uh on the global economy as we.

Have seen uh major companies reroute their ships away from the area an area that accounts for a significant uh amount of commercial vessel traffic now earlier today it's important to note uh the National Economic Council director is saying that they are monitoring the potential effects of the houthis attacks on the US economy but have seen little.

Effect on the US economy in particular uh but these strikes Mark a significant escalation and the United States response to the houthis uh and the first direct military action military strike against them uh that were not the deterrent nature of the international Coalition previously formed Dell he both for us live at the White House keep us.

Uh posted by the way we have reestablished our connection with Hussein Abdul Hussein um Mr Hussein I want to ask the question this way how sharp is the razor's Edge that the world is on we know for instance that tyon is providing uh weapons to Russia in the war in Ukraine we know that the United States is now involved in that.

Multi-nation proxy war as well with regards to Gaza Hezbollah Hamas how sharp is the razor Razor's Edge before the world has to do something about Iran well I think the it's it's long overdue uh with Iran the world has to do something uh otherwise we will keep on dealing with all these uh fires erupting here and there across the Middle East uh.

It's beyond me why this Administration or previous administrations have not really dealt with this threat uh but I think it's it's it's long overdue that this Administration takes on Iran one way or another I'm not advocating for starting war with Iran but just putting Iran on notice letting them know that we are serious that uh these things cannot.

Be played with all the time like they're doing now but that being said that is the razor's Edge that the world has been warning about we've been watching these debates there are two hot Wars is tyon spoiling for a fight and if so what are they get out of it well to my mind they don't uh what Iran does all the time is that it keeps.

On taking the measurements of the administration and the president uh in charge in Washington uh with the previous administration the minute that uh former president Trump killed kasum sumani we saw three years of no Iranian activity or troublemaking whatsoever so we know that the Iranians usually step back when we step up and I think what I.

Was saying was long overdue is that we show the Iranians that we mean business uh we just probably uh uh pick a few targets for the Iranians maybe take them out maybe threaten the the Iranians uh uh privately and publicly that we are serious and I think if we do that we will see the Iranians rolling back and and laying love Hussein Abdul Hussein.

The research fellow at the foundation for the defense of democracies and also our White House correspondent Haley bull who is continuing to track all of the information coming out of Washington we thank both of you for your time we continue to follow the story we will be right back

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