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Hegseth declares 'peace through strength is back' while vowing 'unrelenting' campaign against Houthi targets
By Taylor Penley
Published March 16, 2025
The U.S.'s large-scale strike campaign against Houthi targets in Yemen will be "unrelenting" until the Iran-backed proxies pledge to back off U.S. assets, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday.
"The minute the Houthis say 'we'll stop shooting at your ships, we'll stop shooting at your drones,' this campaign will end, but until then, it will be unrelenting," he told "Sunday Morning Futures" host Maria Bartiromo.
U.S. Central Command said Saturday it had "initiated a series of operations consisting of precision strikes against Iran-backed Houthi targets across Yemen to defend American interests, deter enemies, and restore freedom of navigation."
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a NATO Defence Ministers meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium Feb. 13, 2025. (REUTERS/Yves Herman)
President Donald Trump wrote in a TRUTH Social post on Saturday that he had "ordered the United States Military to launch decisive and powerful Military action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen."
Hegseth, on Sunday, sought to make "very clear" that the ongoing campaign is about "freedom of navigation" and "restoring deterrence."
"An era of peace, through strength is back…" he said.
TRUMP ANNOUNCES 'DECISIVE AND POWERFUL' AIRSTRIKES AGAINST HOUTHI TERRORISTS IN YEMEN
"We're sitting on four years of deferred maintenance from Joe Biden, where, when you talk about the Houthis, they were allowed over 100 times to shoot at U.S. ships, to shoot at commercial shipping. Four months ago, when we sent a ship through, it was shot at 17 times. Ships haven't been able to go through for over a year without being shot at."
He called freedom of navigation a "core national interest," reiterating Trump's vow to restore that freedom and be "unrelenting" in doing so.
Saturday's operation marked the first strike against the Iran-backed Houthis since the start of the second Trump administration.
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Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/hegseth-declares-peace-strength-vowing-unrelenting-campaign-houthi-targets