WASHINGTON, March 17. /TASS/. The United States intends to stop the Yemeni Houthi rebel movement Ansar Allah from attacking ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden once and for all, State Department Spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said on the Fox Business channel.

"Finally, we're striking back. This has been going on for a very long time. Previous administration has done pin prick responses when they've when the Houthis have attacked. But this is the first time that there is a real, genuine attack that is meant to have this stop," she said.

"It affects the entire world. That shipping framework, where countries have had to go all the way around Africa in order to get into where it is, they need to really be moving and this is unacceptable in the civilized world, and that's what the goal is. It is not a tit for tat. this is a dynamic that is about making <...> the world safer and stronger and more prosperous, but also reasonable. These are pirates controlling a section of the world that affects all of us, and it's going to end, and we're going to help make it end."

She said the Houthi "are not a recognized regime. They are not a recognized government. They are effectively holding Yemen hostage, and that's what they've been doing with" the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

On March 15, the United States, on orders of President Donald Trump, launched massive strikes against the Houthi targets in Yemen. According to the Central Command of the US Armed Forces, the operation is aimed at protecting US interests and ensuring the freedom of navigation. In response, the movement attacked the American aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman in the northern part of the Red Sea using missiles and drones twice.

According to the latest data from the Health Ministry in the Houthi government, 53 people were killed and at least 98 others were injured as a result of US strikes in Yemen. In January, Trump signed a decree launching the process of recognizing Ansar Allah as a foreign terrorist organization.