Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Iran early Thursday that it will pay a price for its support of the Yemen-based Houthi group that has launched strikes at U.S. warships and commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Iran on Wednesday that it will face consequences for supporting the Houthis, even as the United States has relaunched talks with Iran over its nuclear program.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Iran on Wednesday that it will face consequences for supporting the Houthis, a group that controls northern Yemen and has struck shipping in the Red Sea in what it says is solidarity with the Palestinians.

The U.S. is conducting strikes on Yemen from its two aircraft carriers in the region — the USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea and the USS Carl Vinson in the Arabian Sea, targeting the Houthis because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on Israel.

Britain’s military launched airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Tuesday with US forces, its defense ministry said – the first public acknowledgment of a joint operation since the Trump administration escalated the US campaign against the militant group.

The United Kingdom‘s air force participated for the first time during this campaign in a recent U.S. operation earlier this week targeting the Houthis in Yemen. Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s dropped Paveway IV precision-guided bombs at “a cluster of buildings” where the Houthis manufacture drones they use to attack ships in the Red Sea