Iran says Yemen's Houthis make their strategic decisions ‘independently'

The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Sunday that the Houthi group in Yemen make their strategic decisions independently.

Hossein Salami's comments followed US President Donald Trump's call for Tehran to halt its support to Houthis in Yemen.

Addressing an event in Tehran, Salami said that the Houthis act autonomously.

"Yemen is an independent nation with its own policies," he added. "The Yemeni people have their national policy. The Houthis as representatives of the Yemeni people make their own strategic and operational decisions."

At least 31 people were killed and 101 others injured in US-UK airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday, according to the Houthi-run Health Ministry.

The attacks followed an order by Trump to launch a "decisive and powerful" military strike against Houthi forces in Yemen over attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

Saturday's attacks marked the first US strikes on Yemen since a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas took hold in Gaza in January.

The Houthis have been attacking Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea with missiles and drones since late 2023, disrupting global trade, for what it said was a show of solidarity with the Gaza Strip.