WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that it will face "dire" consequences if Yemen's Houthis continue to attack international shipping lanes.

He said the Iranian leadership would be held responsible for "every shot fired by the Houthis", which have long been backed by Tehran. The group later said it had targeted a US aircraft carrier three times in the past two days.

The Houthis first tried to attack the USS Harry S Truman in the Red Sea on Sunday following deadly US strikes on Yemen.

The Pentagon said it had struck 30 targets in Yemen since Saturday, in the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since Trump returned to the White House.

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Monday: "Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN.

"And IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!"

The US president accused Iran of supplying the group with funding, weapons and intelligence, which Tehran denies.

In a letter on Monday to the UN Security Council, Iran's UN envoy denied it was in violation of a UN arms embargo on Yemen, and said it was not involved in any destabilizing activities in the region.

Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani accused the US of "baseless accusations" against Iran, Reuters news agency reported.

In a briefing on Monday, Pentagon officials said the US attacks on Yemen were directed at a broader range of targets than the strikes authorized under former President Joe Biden.

Lt Gen Alex Grynkewich said that Houthi drone experts were among those targeted.

He added that there had been "no credible indications of any civilian casualties".

Washington has said some key Houthi figures were among the dead, although the group has not confirmed this.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the US was not seeking regime change.

"This campaign will be relentless to degrade their capability and to open up shipping lanes in the region and to defend our homeland," he said.

On Sunday morning, the Houthis launched drones and missiles targeting the USS Harry S Truman.

US fighter aircraft shot down about 11 of the drones, a US official told the BBC's US partner CBS.

The Houthis also launched a ballistic missile that crashed into the water well short of the USS Harry S Truman, the official added.

On Monday, the group said that it had launched a third attack on the ship in just 48 hours — disrupting US military strikes that were preparing to launch.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to the BBC when asked about the group's latest claims. Earlier on Monday, Pentagon officials said that one missile fired at the ship by the Houthis missed by over 100 miles (160km), and denied that any of the Houthi attacks have been successful.

The Houthis said at least five children were among 53 people killed in the US air strikes on Yemen's Al Jaouf and Hudaydah areas, casualties that the BBC has not independently verified.

The US also launched airstrikes against the group on Saturday and Sunday.

The Houthis said they would continue to target Red Sea shipping until Israel lifted its blockade of Gaza.

The group has claimed — often falsely — that they only target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have sunk two vessels, seized a third, and killed four crew members.

The group controls Sanaa and the north-west of Yemen, but it is not the country's internationally recognized government. — BBC