AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

We turn now to Yemen, where the Trump administration has vowed to continue military strikes against the Houthis, which controls large parts of Yemen. Since Saturday, U.S. warplanes have launched dozens of large-scale military attacks on multiple towns across Yemen. The Trump administration ordered the strikes after the Houthis threatened to resume attacks on Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip.

On Monday, President Trump said the U.S. will hold Iran responsible for any further attacks by the Houthis, and threatened the Iranian government with dire consequences. Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Every shot fired by the Houthis 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!” Trump said.

Iran’s ambassador to the U.S. expressed his deep concern and strong condemnation of the statements in a letter to the U.N. Security Council.

At a press briefing later on Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt underscored President Trump’s warnings.

PRESS SECRETARY KAROLINE LEAVITT: Our message to Iran is: You better take this president seriously. And I think the Houthis learned that the hard way this past weekend. As I said in my opening remarks, there’s a new sheriff in town, and this president is not just going to sit on his hands and allow terrorists to launch attacks on commercial vessels and U.S. naval ships. Those actions will not be tolerated.

AMY GOODMAN: The Houthis, meanwhile, are vowing to continue attacks against all, quote, “hostile targets” in the Red Sea until the attacks on Yemen stop. They also claim to have attacked three U.S. warships in the Red Sea.

Yemen’s Health Ministry says at least 53 people have been killed in U.S. strikes, the majority of them women and children. UNICEF has confirmed at least two children were killed in U.S. strikes, contradicting claims by Pentagon officials Monday that no civilians have been harmed in the bombing of Yemen.

LT. GEN. ALEXUS GRYNKEWICH: On the civilian casualty side, no indications of any civilian casualties. We, of course, have seen some of the accusations by the Houthis. We look at those closely when they do come in, but we have no credible indications of any civilian casualties.

AMY GOODMAN: For more on Yemen, we’re joined now by a guest who’s spent years reporting on Yemen’s civil war and the Houthis, journalist Safa Al Ahmad. She is the award-winning director of the Frontline documentaries Yemen Under Siege and The Fight for Yemen. Her last piece for Frontline, Targeting Yemen, investigated the last major attack by the Trump administration on Yemen back in 2017. Safa joins us now from Menlo Park, California.

Welcome to Democracy Now! We just have a few minutes, and I’m wondering if you can talk about the significance of these major strikes on Yemen this weekend, Safa, that are ongoing.

SAFA AL AHMAD: Yes. I mean, this is quite significant, but, unfortunately, this has been happening in Yemen through across many administrations, since George W. Bush. But now the reasoning is different. And unfortunately, Biden had been doing that in Yemen for the same excuse, for the freedom of movement of vessels in the Red Sea, but not to this number of casualties. This is quite a shocking number.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Safa, on social media, President Trump vowed to use overwhelming lethal force like nothing you’ve seen before against Yemen. What is your sense? And also, his attempt to blame Iran and threaten Iran for any further attacks, your response to those comments of the president?

SAFA AL AHMAD: I think those comments are misleading and indicating that the relationship between Iran and the Houthis, or Ansar Allah, are similar to that of, say, Hezbollah and Lebanon. They are not the same. They don’t adhere necessarily to what Iran says. Yes, they do have a very close relationship, but not to the same extent. And so, this is disingenuous in saying that everything that the Houthi does is under the direct command of the Iranians, and this is not true.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And initially, the Houthis had paused their attacks against Israeli vessels but said they would renew them last week after Israel halted entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Are there any reports that they actually attacked Israeli vessels?

SAFA AL AHMAD: Not to my knowledge. And they did not keep to their word of not attacking any vessels during the ceasefire. But clearly, now all bets are off, especially with, unfortunately, what’s been happening in the last few hours with over 400 dead in Gaza. So, God knows what will be the Houthi response at this point.

But I don’t think that the Americans’ attack on Yemen this time was in response to attack, but rather because the Houthis had announced that they will start attacking again if the ceasefire doesn’t hold and if they don’t lift the embargo on all the aid that was coming into Gaza, which has stopped a few weeks ago.

AMY GOODMAN: On Sunday, the head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard insisted Iran is not involved with the Houthi attacks, saying Iran, quote, “plays no role in setting the national or operational policies of the Houthis.” As we wrap up, Safa, do you believe this?

SAFA AL AHMAD: To a certain degree, yes. But they do have a relationship, so I don’t know what kind of pressure the Iranians are on to stop the Houthis from attacking. But that’s no guarantee that the Houthis would stop the attacks.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And also, has the solidarity of the Houthis with the Palestinians increased their popularity across the Middle East?

SAFA AL AHMAD: Immensely. Immensely. Even people who are against them inside Yemen and those within the Yemeni government in Aden, for example, all — everyone says that what the Houthis have done, none of the other Arab countries have shown the courage in an impactful way on what’s happening in Gaza. They’re the only ones who have really impacted financially the commerce in the Red Sea. And so, to many, many people, not just in the Arab world, that increased their credibility, even though they’re accused of their own human rights violations inside Yemen. But from an outsider perspective, but also inside Yemen itself, supporting the Palestinians in Gaza and Palestine in general has incredibly increased Houthi popularity and lessened the critique on the Houthis themselves in what they’re doing domestically.

AMY GOODMAN: Safa Al Ahmad, I want to thank you so much for being with us, Saudi journalist who’s been reporting on Yemen since 2010. She’s the award-winning director of the Frontline documentaries Yemen Under Siege and The Fight for Yemen.

Coming up, Donald Trump went over to the Kennedy Center for the Arts. He’s taken it over. We’ll speak to folk musicians Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman, who performed last week at the center and unfurled protest banners on stage. Stay with us.

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AMY GOODMAN: Folk musicians Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman singing “The Unicorn” at the Kennedy Center last week.