Middle East updates: Syria, Iran at focus of EU meetings

US President Donald Trump says Iran will "suffer the consequences" for any further attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels.

The group is backed by Iran and has repeatedly targeted US and other foreign ships in the Red Sea since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023.

Trump warned on a post on his Truth Social platform Monday that any future attack by the group would be met with "great force, and there is no guarantee that that force will stop there."

"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!" Trump added.

Iran did not immediately comment on the post.

Trump's comments came after the US carried out airstrikes against the Houthis on Saturday, killing at least 53 people. In response, the Houthis claimed two strikes on a US aircraft carrier.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has ordered the army to respond to gunfire from the Syrian side of the border after deadly fighting erupted at the frontier overnight.

"What is happening along the eastern and northeastern border cannot continue and we will not accept that it continues," Aoun said on X.

"I have given my orders to the Lebanese army to retaliate against the source of fire."

The clashes marked the most serious cross-border fighting since the ouster of former Syrian dictator Bashar Assad in December.

The new violence came after Syria's Defense Ministry on Sunday accused the Lebanese Iran-backed militia Hezbollah of kidnapping three members of the new Syrian army and killing them in Lebanon.

Hezbollah denied any involvement.

In retaliation, Syrian troops shelled Lebanese border towns overnight, according to Syrian and Lebanese officials.  

The Lebanese army said it has handed over the bodies of the three soldiers to Syria after intensive talks between the two sides.

President Aoun said he had also asked Lebanon's foreign minister, who was attending a Syria donors conference in Brussels on Monday, to contact Syrian officials to "prevent further escalation."

Tens of thousands of protesters have attended rallies in Yemen following US airstrikes that killed dozens of people.

Supporters of the Iran-backed Houthi rebel movement demonstrated in the capital, Sanaa, on Monday, many of them waving assault rifles, daggers or Korans.

They also chanted "Death to America, death to Israel."

Footage from the rebel-run Al-Masirah TV station also showed demonstrations in the cities of Dhamar, Hodeida and Amran.

The protests came after the US on Saturday carried out its first airstrikes on Yemen since the inauguration of President Donald Trump in January.

The US strikes killed at least 53 people.

Washington has vowed to continue the strikes until the Houthis stop targeting ships in the Red Sea.

The Houthis launched numerous attacks on shipping after Israel's war with Hamas began in late 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the EU would provide an additional €2.5 billion ($2.7 billion) in aid for Syria in 2025 and 2026.

She made the pledge at a one-day international donor conference in Brussels on Monday.

"Syrians need greater support, whether they are still abroad or they decide to go home. And this is why today, the European Union is increasing its pledge for Syrians in the country and in the region," von der Leyen said.

"We call on all of you who are here today to do the same, if possible, because at this critical time, the people of Syria need us more than ever," she added. "There are entire cities to be rebuilt, and a whole economy to restart."

Meanwhile, the UK said it would pledge up to £160 million ($200 million, €183 million) in humanitarian aid this year to support Syria's recovery.

The UK Foreign Office also said it would "help provide Syrians with critical water, food, healthcare and education in 2025."

The donor conference was organized by the EU to help Syria as it undergoes a political transition following 14 years of civil war and the toppling of former dictator Bashar Assad in December.

Clashes erupted along the Syrian-Lebanese border overnight to Monday, Syria's state media has said. 

Violence has recently escalated in the area between the Syrian military and armed Lebanese Shiite clans that supported longtime dictator Bashar Assad, who was ousted in early December in a sweeping Islamist-led offensive.  

The new violence came after Syria's Defense Ministry accused the Lebanese Iran-backed militia Hezbollah of kidnapping three members of the new Syrian army and killing them in Lebanon.

The Lebanese army said it has handed over the bodies of the three soldiers to Syria after intensive talks between the two sides.

Hezbollah has denied any involvement. 

Five other Syrian soldiers were killed during Monday's fighting, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor established during the 14-year Syrian civil war.

China on Monday called for "dialogue" and a de-escalation of tensions in the Red Sea after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis said they had carried out two attacks on a US aircraft carrier group on Sunday. 

"China opposes any action that escalates the situation in the Red Sea," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular briefing.

"The reasons behind the situation in the Red Sea and the Yemen issue are complex and should be properly resolved through dialogue and negotiation," Mao said.

Since October 2023, the Houthis have carried out a series of attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, saying they were conducted in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip amid an Israeli offensive against the Hamas group, a Houthi ally.

Beijing last year called for an end to "harassment" of civilian ships in the waters, which are regularly plied by Chinese vessels on their way to Europe.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they have attacked an American aircraft carrier group twice within 24 hours after US strikes left dozens dead.

The rebels said they had hit back by firing 18 missiles and a drone at the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier group on Sunday, before launching a second strike hours later.

In a statement posted to Telegram, a Houthi spokesperson said the attacks were "in retaliation to the continued American aggression against our country."

There was no immediate comment from the United States about the Houthis' claimed attacks.

The US carried out a new wave of airstrikes on Yemen on Monday as part of a sustained operation in response to threats from the Iran-backed Houthi movement to international shipping, Yemeni and US sources have said.

On Monday, the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah and Al Jawf governorate north of the capital, Sanaa, were targeted, according to the Houthis' Al Masirah TV.

A spokesman for the Houthi-run Ministry of Health told Germany's DPA news agency that the strikes had killed at least 31 civilians and injured 101 others.

Monday's attacks come after deadly strikes by the US over the weekend.

The US Central Command, or CENTCOM, confirmed that it was keeping up operations against the Houthis, whom it called "terrorists" in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

 

The Houthis began a campaign of attacks against international shipping amid the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip targeting its ally, the Islamist Hamas group.

They paused the operations after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was reached in January, but warned earlier this week that they would resume attacks on Israeli ships unless Israel reverses the blocking of aid deliveries into Gaza.

Washington sees the Houthis as an extension of Iran's power in the Middle East and is targeting them partly within a strategy to force Tehran to the negotiating table over its nuclear program.

The EU is to host a donor conference that aims to secure aid to Syria and its people for a ninth year on Monday.

The conference comes as the country seeks political stability after 14 years of civil war ended with the ouster of longtime dictator Bashar Assad.

Germany has led the way in pledges, with Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock saying the country would provide an additional €300 million ($327 million) to the UN and other organizations assisting Syrians at home and those who have fled to other countries in the region.

"All measures in Syria will be implemented exclusively through UN aid agencies and nongovernmental organizations, not with the Syrian transitional government," a separate German government press release stated.

The meeting is taking place after a renewed outbreak of deadly violence this month shook international confidence in the new Islamist-led authorities in the country.

"There can only be a peaceful future for Syria if there is an inclusive political process," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said. 

EU officials have confirmed that Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Shaibani is expected to attend Monday's meeting, the first time Syria has been formally represented at the conference.

 Some 16.7 million people in Syria are in need of assistance, while the UN says that the country would need more than 50 years to return to its pre-civil-war economic level at current growth rates.
     

Welcome to our reporting on the Middle East on Monday, March 17, as EU leaders discuss the situation in the Middle East.

The EU is hosting its ninth donor conference for Syria in Brussels as the country struggles with a political transition following the ouster of dictator Bashar Assad, while the bloc's foreign ministers will be discussing Syria and the wider Middle East region at an earlier meeting.

We will also bring you information on other major developing situations, such as the US' ongoing military operation targeting the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen.