TEHRAN – The United States renewed strikes against Yemen on Saturday, marking an opening salvo of assaults under President Donald Trump who had said in his inaugural address that contrary to his predecessor Joe Biden, he would act as a “peace-maker”.

The strikes which continued on a smaller scale on Sunday and Monday killed dozens of Yemeni civilians including women and children. The U.S. said it had hit missile and drone systems, air defenses, and radars, but footage so far only shows American bombs raining down on residential complexes.

Yemeni armed forces began targeting Israeli-owned and Israeli-bound ships in the Red Sea in 2023, following the start of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. The Ansarullah movement, which has been governing much of Yemen since a revolution ousted the Western-backed president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi in 2015, stated the attacks were in solidarity with Gazans who were being denied food, water, and medication.

No Israeli ship has been able to pass through the Red Sea in the past 19 months, except for a brief period following a ceasefire in Gaza in November. The Ansarullah announced last week that it will once again begin targeting Israeli vessels if the regime continues to violate the pact and withhold humanitarian aid from the starving and ailing population of the Palestinian enclave. This ultimatum has now passed, with reports indicating that food has not been allowed into Gaza yet.

The latest wave of American airstrikes appears to be a response to Yemen’s renewed pressure on Israeli ships. In a message on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump said that Yemenis were being hit because they had killed American troops and their allies. He also said that he would continue to bomb the country “indefinitely” until it ceases its Red Sea operations. Trump did not comment on Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, nor did he seem to consider that allowing humanitarian aid to flow into the enclave would be significantly less burdensome for American taxpayers than deploying costly weapons to attack Yemen. During his recent presidential campaign, the former businessman said he would put the working class in America first and refrain from wasting their tax money.

Millions of Yemenis took to the streets across the Arab country on Monday, saying they will continue to back Palestinians no matter what. “We are not scared of bombs and missiles. This is nothing new. What we care about is our dignity,” said one civilian. “We are not like other Arabs. I would rather die with our Palestinian brothers and sisters than live a comfortable life while they are getting brutally killed.”

The large-scale demonstrations were a sign that fresh assaults have not demoralized Yemen. Analysts say such moves are also unlikely to be able to pare down its military capabilities. Biden carried out numerous rounds of attacks against the Arab country with the help of Britain when he was in office, however, Ansarullah only ramped up its operations, gradually moving towards hitting highly protected Israeli positions inside the occupied territories too.

Alleged willingness for diplomacy with Iran fades  

In a seperate post on his social media platform, Trump said he would hold Iran responsible for any Yemeni attacks on American interests. “Every shot fired by the Houthis [Ansarullah] 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!” he wrote on Monday.

The president claimed all of the Arab country’s operations are led by Iran, an assertion he provided no evidence for. Iran has said numerous times that it maintains a close relationship with all Resistance forces in West Asia, but it does not hold authority over them.

While the United States routinely accuses Iran whenever it faces attacks from Resistance forces – groups that arose over the years in response to U.S. occupation and interventionism – Trump's recent set of accusations and subsequent threats carry increased significance. Before his Monday outburst, the president’s efforts and public statements had been focused on putting the fallout of escalating tensions with Iran on the country’s leadership, alleging that they seek war while he prefers diplomacy.

Trump has been asking that Iran sign a new nuclear deal with him and disregard the international one he withdrew Washington from in 2018. Iranian officials maintain they distrust the U.S., believing negotiations would be futile and even detrimental to Tehran.

In his most recent posturing as an avid fan of diplomacy, the president sent a letter to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, via a visiting UAE diplomat, announcing its existence publicly even before Tehran had received it.

Reports suggest Iran may be preparing a response for Trump. But the president apparently could not wait for the response to be delivered before he would let his true colors show.

“Trump came to power this January promising peace and an end to America’s wars. However, only two months later, he ordered attacks on Yemen and is now threatening to attack Iran,” said Amir Ali Abolfath, an expert on American affairs. “No matter who becomes president of the United States, war is in the DNA of U.S. foreign policy.”