US threatens ‘major military punishment’ for Houthi attacks
July 23, 2026
Houthis ‘snookered’ into joining US-Iran conflict — Rubio
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that he believed that Yemen’s Houthi rebels had been tricked into joining the conflict with the United States by Tehran.
“The Houthis largely were smart and stayed out of all this throughout the conflict, but they now apparently have gotten themselves suckered into this, going after Saudi Arabia and their ships,” Rubio told reporters on the sidelines of a summit of the ASEAN Southeast Asian bloc in Manila, the Philippines.
“I hope they will de-escalate, because I think the Houthis, frankly, got snookered into this thing by the Iranians,” he said.
The militant group controls much of Yemen’s most populous areas, including the capital, Sanaa, and is allied with Iran. It already began threatening merchant ships in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza in 2023.
The top US official also accused Iran of going back on its commitments in peace talks.
“These people make deals and then they break it almost immediately or they decide, ‘oh, let’s change the deal’. That’s not how deals work,” he said.
“So now they’re paying the price for it. And maybe they’ll change their mind here over the next few days as they continue to suffer great losses,” Rubio added.
He said he believed Iran was not yet ready for a deal with Washington but said it might be soon, while also reiterating the US’ position that Iran should be “denuclearized.” Iran maintains its nuclear program is exclusively for civilian purposes.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump declared that a previous ceasefire deal with Iran was “over.”