Iran Update March 17, 2025
Ria Reddy, Carolyn Moorman, Alexandra Braverman, Andie Parry, Ben Rezaei, Annika Ganzeveld, Johanna Moore, Siddhant Kishore, and Brian Carter
Information Cutoff 2:00 pm ET
The Critical Threats Project (CTP) at the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) publish the Iran Update, which provides insights into Iranian and Iranian-sponsored activities that undermine regional stability and threaten US forces and interests. CTP-ISW publishes the Iran Update every weekday.
Click here to see CTP and ISW’s interactive map of Israeli ground operations, and here to see CTP and ISW’s interactive map of the ongoing opposition offensive in Syria. These maps are updated daily alongside the static maps present in this report.
We do not report in detail on war crimes because these activities are well-covered in Western media and do not directly affect the military operations we are assessing and forecasting. We utterly condemn violations of the laws of armed conflict and the Geneva Conventions and crimes against humanity even though we do not describe them in these reports.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) has conducted a series of airstrikes targeting Houthi leaders and infrastructure in Yemen since March 15.[1] The strikes are in response to the Houthi attack campaign on international shipping, which the Houthis launched in October 2023 in support of Hamas.[2] The Houthis have conducted 174 attacks targeting US military vessels and 145 attacks targeting commercial vessels since October 2023.[3] CENTCOM reportedly conducted around 50 strikes across 9 Yemeni provinces, according to Yemeni journalists.[4] The recent US strikes differ from previous US strikes against the Houthis under former President Joe Biden given that the recent strikes directly targeted Houthi leadership. US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz stated that the strikes killed “multiple” Houthi leaders.[5] The strikes killed senior Houthi leader Hassan Sharaf al Din and Houthi Supreme Leader Abdulmalik al Houthi’s bodyguard, according to Yemeni sources.[6]
The strikes also targeted Houthi missile launchers, radars, air defense systems, and drone launch points.[7] The Houthis use radars to target vessels.[8] CENTCOM previously destroyed seven Houthi radars in June 2024 after the Houthis sunk a Greek-owned vessel.[9]
The Houthis will likely respond by increasing their rate of attacks targeting US naval and commercial vessels in the Red Sea. Houthi spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Sarea stated on March 16 that the Houthis will respond “to escalation with escalation.”[10] The Houthis claimed on March 16 that they conducted two missile and drone attacks targeting the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the northern Red Sea in response to the US strikes.[11] An unspecified US official told ABC News that “none of [the missiles and drones] came close” to hitting the USS Harry S. Truman.[12] Unspecified US officials told the New York Times on March 15 that CENTCOM could continue to conduct strikes for several weeks and "intensify” the scope and scale of the strikes depending on the Houthis’ response.[13]
Senior Iranian military officials have tried to distance Iran from the Houthi attack campaign against international shipping in the aftermath of the US strikes. Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander Major General Hossein Salami claimed on March 16 that Iran does not determine the “national or operational policies” of its proxies.[14] Iran has provided the Houthis with intelligence to identify Israeli-owned vessels in the Red Sea and has helped the Houthis develop their drone and missile stockpiles in recent years.[15] US President Donald Trump stated on March 17 that the United States will hold Iran responsible for any future Houthi attacks.[16]
Iran appears unwilling to make concessions on its missile program, likely because it regards this program as Iran’s main deterrent against US and Israeli threats, particularly after the April and October 2024 Israeli airstrikes on Iran. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stated on March 8 that Western powers are trying to use nuclear negotiations to “set new expectations” for Iran’s missile range.[17] Khamenei emphasized that Iran "will not accept or comply" with such demands. Senior Advisor to the Armed Forces General Staff Brigadier General Hossein Ashtari echoed Khamenei's remarks and stated on March 15 that Iran "will definitely not accept" new “expectations” for the ranges of its missiles.[18] Iranian Strategic Foreign Relations Council Chairman Kamal Kharazi previously stated ...
[Short citation of 8% of the original article]