In March 2025, the United States launched a large campaign of air and naval strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. Codenamed Operation Rough Rider, it was the first large-scale US military operation in the Middle East during President Donald Trump's second term. The strikes began on March 15, targeting radar systems, air defenses, and ballistic and drone launch sites used by the Houthis to attack commercial ships and naval vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. On 30 April 2025, the United Kingdom joined the United States in conducting strikes on Houthi targets.
The Houthi group began targeting international shipping in October 2023, after Israel invaded the Gaza Strip in response to the October 7 Hamas attacks. Claiming solidarity with Palestinians and aiming to pressure Israel into agreeing to a ceasefire and lifting its blockade of Gaza, the Houthis launched missiles and drones at vessels traveling near Yemen, and also fired ballistic missiles at Israeli cities, killing at least one civilian in Tel Aviv. In response, the United States, the United Kingdom, and a multinational coalition began Operation Prosperity Guardian, combining naval escorts with episodic airstrikes on Houthi military and civilian infrastructure.
By mid-March 2025, the Houthis had attacked more than 190 ships, sinking two, seizing another, and killing at least four seafarers. On March 18, Trump warned Iran—longtime backers of the Houthis—that further attacks would be considered acts of aggression, despite no direct involvement.
On May 6, President Donald Trump declared the strikes to be over, "effective immediately," as a result of a ceasefire between the US and the Houthis, brokered by Oman. The Houthis asserted that the ceasefire did not in "any way, shape, or form" preclude attacking Israel, which had just begun bombing Yemen.
Background
The Houthis are a Shia Islamist military and political group located in Yemen, backed by Iran, and widely considered part of the Iranian-led Axis of Resistance. Emerging in the 1990s, they played a major role in Yemen's civil war, opposing the Presidential Leadership Council (SLC). The group took control over northern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, since 2014,
The Saudi-led coalition, backed by the United States, has fought against the Houthi Movement for over a decade. Since the October 7 attacks in October 2023, they have continued to target commercial shipping in the Red Sea using missiles, drones, and explosive-laden boats, forcing many shipping companies to reroute vessels around southern Africa at higher costs, in an attempt to force a ceasefire in the Gaza War and an end to the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Since November 2023, they have conducted over 190 attacks on shipping, sunk two vessels, seized another, and killed at least four seafarers, disrupting global trade. The Economist based in the UK reported that Red Sea cargo shipments had decreased by 70% in volume as a result of these strikes. It alleged that the Houthis had turned their strikes into a business model by requesting Protection racket payments from shipowners in exchange for safe passage, generating substantial revenue through blackmarket transactions and a form of maritime extortion.
The Houthis also conducted ballistic missile and drone attacks on Israeli cities, including Eilat and Tel Aviv, where a drone strike killed one Israeli. In response, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel, with support from a multinational coalition, launched attacks in Yemen to disrupt their capabilities.
While other members of Iran's Axis of Resistance—including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Syria—suffered major setbacks, the Houthis have used Yemen's geography to continue to fight against the Presidential Leadership Council. Following a ceasefire in Gaza-Israel in January 2025, they halted their attacks, but tensions resurfaced when they warned to resume strikes on targets in Israel if Israel disrupted humanitarian aid to Gaza again, which it blocked on 2 March. Following the aid block, the Houthis set a four-day deadline for border crossings to be reopened and aid to be allowed. The Houthis announced a resumption in attacks on 11 March after the demands were not met. The Houthis also fired a missile at a US Air Force F-16 and shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone. President Trump redesignated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization in January 2025.
In February 2025, CBS News reported that President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had rolled back constraints on American commanders, allowing them to authorize airstrikes and special operations raids outside conventional battlefields. This broadened the range of people who could be targeted, with the Houthis being among the first under the new rule.
Weapons analysts have suggested that the Houthis may have acquired advanced drone technology, potentially increasing their operational range. Many of the militia's weapons are either manufactured in underground facilities or smuggled from Iran, their primary backer. Iran's enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade levels remains a major international concern. Meanwhile, economic hardship in Iran has fueled domestic unrest.
Prelude
Following Trump's election, Gen. Michael Kurilla, commander of the United States Central Command, proposed an 8–10 month bombing campaign based on Israel's operation against Hezbollah, where the US would strike Houthi air defenses before conducting targeted assassinations against senior Houthi officials. Saudi officials who supported Kurilla's proposal provided a list of 12 prominent Houthi leaders, stating that their assassinations would "cripple" the group. In early March, Trump partially approved Kurilla's plan, giving it 30 days to exhibit results in a campaign named "Operation Rough Rider" by Pete Hegseth.
On 13 March 2025, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz created a Signal group chat called "Houthi PC small group", for Trump administration officials to coordinate the attacks. The group included accounts that seemed to correspond to Marco Rubio, JD Vance, Tulsi Gabbard, Scott Bessent, Pete Hegseth, John Ratcliffe, Steve Witkoff, Susie Wiles, Joe Kent, and Stephen Miller. Waltz also accidentally added the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg. This incident became known as Signalgate.
On the morning of 14 March, Vance messaged the group asking for the attacks to be delayed by one month, saying: "I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now" and that the attacks "risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices". But Hegseth convinced Vance to continue with the attack, saying that the attacks were "not about the Houthis. I see it as two things: 1) Restoring Freedom of Navigation, a core national interest; and 2) Reestablish deterrence, which Biden cratered." Miller messaged at 9:35 a.m. ET that Trump had given approval for the attacks.
Trump authorized the attack plan, which had been in development for several weeks, with the final order issued on Saturday, 15 March. Some members of Congress received briefings from the White House the same day. At 11:44 a.m. ET, Hegseth messaged the group operational details of the attacks, including information about targets, weapons used, and attack sequencing.
Strikes
First week (15–21 March 2025)
15 March
At least 40 air raids took place across Yemen, mainly in the capital of Sanaa and in Saada Governorate.
The eight strikes in Sanaa included one on a residential area that killed 15 people and injured nine others; one on the Sanaa International Airport, which houses a major military facility, with images showing black smoke billowing over the area; and four in the Geraf neighborhood of Shaoub district in northern Sanaa. Al-Masirah and other local media reported airstrikes in Sanaa at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Twelve strikes hit Saada, including one on a power station in Dahyan that caused a power outage. Military installations in Taiz were also struck. In Kahza, Ibb Governorate, Houthi media reported that 15 people were killed after American attacks hit two residential buildings. Eight strikes took place in Al Bayda Governorate, and further attacks hit Dhamar Governorate, Hajjah Governorate, and Marib Governorate.
The strikes, which US officials described as the largest military attack of Trump's second term, were carried out by fighter jets from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, stationed in the northern Red Sea, and United States Air Force attack planes and armed drones launched from regional bases. The BBC reported that the UK did not participate in the airstrikes but assisted in refueling.
After the initial strikes, Trump claimed on Truth Social that the Houthis were waging a campaign of "piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones", and vowed to use "overwhelming lethal force" until Houthi attacks on shipping cease. "No terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing the Waterways of the World." He added, "Your time is up, and your attacks must stop, starting today. If they don't, hell will rain down upon you like nothing you have ever seen before." He also warned Iran to end its support for the Houthis, promising to hold the country "fully accountable" for the actions of the militant group.
Hegseth posted on X that "Houthi attacks on American ships & aircraft (and our troops!) will not be tolerated; and Iran, their benefactor, is on notice", adding that "freedom of navigation will be restored".
The Houthis described the attacks as a "war crime" and vowed retaliation. According to the Houthi-run health ministry, at least 53 people were killed, including five children and two women, and 98 others were wounded. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) independently determined that at least 2 children were killed in the attack.
Waltz claimed that the attacks killed several Houthi leaders and indicated that the US would consider hitting Iranian targets in Yemen.
In the Signal chat, Hegseth said that the strikes had killed the Houthis' "top missile guy".
16 March
Airstrikes hit military headquarters, weapon storage facilities, and detection equipment used to locate shipping. Al-Masirah reported two US strikes in Al Hudaydah.
Saudi news outlet AlHadath reported that the security chief of Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi was killed in Saada.
The Houthis claimed that they targeted the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman using 18 ballistic and cruise missiles and a drone. A US official said that a US aircraft shot down 11 drones launched by Houthis towards USS Harry S. Truman and a missile fired by Houthis failed in flight and splashed down into the sea. Later, the Houthis said that they fired missiles and drones towards USS Harry S. Truman and its several warships for the second time.
Institute for the Study of War reported that US airstrikes in Al Jawf Governorate killed three Houthi officials, including Commander Zain al Abidin al Mahtouri in al Hazm.
17 March
Two early-morning air raids in the port city of Al Hudaydah hit a cotton ginning factory and the command cabin of the hijacked Israel-linked cargo ship Galaxy Leader, Houthi-aligned Saba News Agency reported. Saba also said strikes had damaged an under-construction cancer facility in Saada.
Another strike killed "Abu Taha" Zain al-Abidin Ali Abdullah al-Muhturi, a senior official in the Houthi internal security department, in the headquarters of the government complex in the city of Al-Hazm, the center of Al Jawf Governorate, northeast of Sanaa.
Other strikes hit the Al-Habashi Iron Factory in the Bajil district of Al Hudaydah Governorate and sites south of the presidential compound in Sanaa.
Lieutenant General Alex Grynkewich, US Joint Staff Director for Operations, said that more than 30 targets in Yemen had been struck since the bombing campaign began, killing dozens of Houthi militants.
Trump declared in a post that more Houthi attacks would be viewed as direct actions, or casus belli, by Iran that would incur severe consequences.
On the night of March 17/18, the United States launched a wave of strikes targeting Houthi and IRGC targets, reportedly inflicting casualties on both.
18 March
Agence France-Presse was told by witnesses that three strikes were conducted in Saada in the late night.
19 March
Houthi media reported that at least 10 strikes were conducted by the US in Sanaa and Al Hudaydah. Strikes also took place in As Safra, Saada, which is reportedly one of the most militarized Houthi strongholds, containing training bases and weapon storage facilities. According to Reuters, trenches and bunkers that were built to house Houthi leaders following former president Joe Biden's airstrikes in Yemen were also struck, forcing the group's leadership into hiding. US strikes on Sanaa injured seven women and two children in a residential neighborhood. Al-Masirah also reported strikes in Al-Sawadiya, southeast of Sanaa. ISW reported airstrikes on the Houthi's Communications Ministry and Postal Authority in Sanaa.
Pro-Houthi media reported that funerals were held in Sanaa for 16 slain militants.
20 March
Al-Masirah reported that at least four US strikes hit the Al Mina district of al-Hudaydah, but later Houthi aligned media reported a total of five strikes in Al Hudaydah Governorate, including one hitting a cotton processing plant in Zabid, the cotton processing plant had allegedly been converted into a mines and explosive devices factory. US also conducted an airstrike near Safraa.
Yemen's Houthi-run health ministry said that a US airstrike hit a wedding hall which was under construction in Sanaa, injuring nine people, including women and children.