US Defence Secretary Hegseth warns Iran against supporting Houthis

Tehran has in the past claimed the Yemen rebel group acts independently

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Bloomberg

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has warned Iran against supporting the Houthis, saying Tehran “will pay the consequence at the time and place of our choosing”.

The threat comes as the US engages in talks with Iran over its nuclear programme. The two sides have so far held three rounds of indirect talks, mediated by Oman, aimed at sealing a deal that would block Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon but lift economic sanctions imposed by Washington. They will reconvene in Rome on Saturday.

“Message to IRAN: We see your LETHAL support to The Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing,” Mr Hegseth wrote on X. “You know very well what the US Military is capable of – and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing.”

Mr Hegseth, on his personal X account, later reposted a message from Donald Trump from March in which the US President said he would hold Iran responsible for any attacks carried out by the Houthi group.

Iran's leader has previously said the Houthis act independently.

The rebel group controls large parts of northern Yemen and has struck shipping in the Red Sea in what it says is a campaign of solidarity with the Palestinians over the war in Gaza.

The US has carried out air strikes on more than 1,000 Houthi targets since it intensified a bombing campaign against the group in March.

A Yemeni man checks the rubble of a building hit by US air strikes in the northern province of Saada. AFP

On Monday the Houthis said a US strike on a detention centre for African migrants in Yemen's northern Saada governorate killed 68 people. Washington did not comment.

While both Tehran and Washington have said they are set on pursuing diplomacy, they remain far apart on the nuclear dispute, which has rumbled on for more than two decades.

Mr Trump last month said “I think we're going to make a deal with Iran”, but he repeated a threat of military action if diplomacy fails.

Before the next round of talks on Saturday, Iran will meet the E3 group of European countries on Friday for separate talks in Rome. The E3 comprises the UK, France and Germany.

The three nations were parties to a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that fell apart when Washington withdrew in 2018 during Mr Trump's first term as President. Attempts to revive the deal were made in 2021 with talks in Vienna but ultimately failed under the Biden administration.

Since then, European countries have largely remained sidelined from the talks.