
Iran on Monday condemned US strikes on Yemen that Houthi rebels claimed had hit a migrant detention center in Saada, killing at least 68 people.
In a statement quoted by AFP, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei called the strikes "on civilian targets, vital infrastructure and people's homes in various parts of Yemen... a war crime."
The US Army is currently in the midst of a military campaign against the Houthis, who are backed by Iran.
On Sunday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that since March 15, its forces have conducted "an intense and sustained campaign" under Operation Rough Rider, striking over 800 Houthi targets.
According to CENTCOM, these efforts have been guided by "detailed and comprehensive intelligence ensuring lethal effects against the Houthis while minimizing risk to civilians."
The campaign has significantly degraded Houthi capabilities, the statement said. CENTCOM reported that "hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders, including senior Houthi missile and UAV officials," have been killed.
Additionally, US forces have destroyed vital infrastructure, including command-and-control facilities, air defense systems, and advanced weapons manufacturing and storage sites, it said.
The renewed US military campaign against the Houthis aims to curb Houthi threats against American naval forces and Israel-linked targets.
President Donald Trump recently stated that the Houthis would be “completely annihilated" and added that Iranian support would only impede but not stop the Houthis' destruction.
Trump later said that the Houthis now want peace because the US attacks on them have been very successful, while stressing that those strikes will continue for a very long time.
It has long been believed that Iran is planning to use the Houthis to take over Yemen and seize the key strategic port of Aden, which controls the entrance to the Red Sea and ultimately to the Israeli resort city of Eilat.
Iran denies it is backing the Houthis and has also denied that Tehran provided the Houthi rebels in Yemen with ballistic capabilities.