WASHINGTON, March 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday that the airstrikes on Houthis will not stop until the group ends its attacks on U.S. ships and drones.

"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 said on Fox News.

The U.S. strikes on Houthis in Yemen are about "freedom of navigation" and "restoring deterrence," he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that he had ordered the U.S. military to launch decisive and powerful military action against the Houthis in Yemen.

Earlier on Sunday, Trump's national security advisor Mike Waltz told ABC News that the U.S. strikes targeted and "took out" multiple Houthis leaders.

Comparing the airstrikes with those launched by the Biden administration, Waltz said: "The difference here is, one, going after the Houthi leadership, and two, holding Iran responsible."

The Trump administration has designated Houthis a foreign terrorist organization, he added, accusing Iran of helping the Houthis attack U.S. warships and global commerce.

In response, Iran's Chief Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Hossein Salami said on Sunday the country plays no role in designing the policies of the Yemen-based Houthis, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

Salami said the U.S. president once again attributed the operations carried out by the Houthis to Iran, noting that Iran had always emphasized that the Yemenis are independent and free people with their own independent national policy.

At least 31 people have been killed and 101 injured by the airstrikes on Yemen, said an NBC News report on Sunday morning, citing the Houthi health ministry. Enditem

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