President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that the United States will stop striking the Houthis in Yemen after he said the Iranian-backed rebel group expressed that they “don’t want to fight anymore.”
“We will honor that, and we will stop the bombings,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “They have capitulated, but more importantly, we will take their own word. They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore, and that’s what the purpose of what we were doing.”
Trump denied that he had made a “deal” with the Houthis and largely declined to provide further details about the decision, saying he had just learned about it. He said the arrangement was “effectively immediately.”
“They’ve said, ‘Please don’t bomb us anymore, and we’re not going to attack your ships,’ ” Trump said.
The United States has been carrying out airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen since March, in an offensive called “Operation Rough Rider.” The campaign came in response to Houthi attacks on commercial vessels navigating important shipping lanes in the Middle East.
Trump was speaking with reporters in the Oval Office alongside visiting Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The U.S. bombing campaign against the Houthis has led to increased tensions with Iran, which Trump has said is “dictating every move” of the rebels.
“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, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!” Trump wrote on social media March 17.