WASHINGTON, July 23. /TASS/. The United States will punish Iran for any further Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian ships, President Donald Trump said on Truth Social.

"Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if they do this again, the US will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis themselves who I am very disappointed with in that they have, until now, acted very professionally and smart," he said.

Earlier on Thursday, the Houthis fired ballistic missiles and drones at two oil tankers of the kingdom, which violated their naval blockade of Saudi Arabia. Fires broke out on the vessels.

On July 20, the Houthis instituted a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia, accusing the kingdom of years of "plundering Yemen's national wealth," oil included.

On July 21, the Saudi-led coalition started protecting merchant ships.