WASHINGTON – Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement will likely be a persistent problem for the U.S. in the future, a senior U.S. military official said on Tuesday, even after Washington and the Houthis reached an agreement last month that ended a U.S. air campaign against the group.

“The Houthis are likely to be a persistent problem… that we’ll be dealing with in the future a few times again,” Air Force Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich, director for operations of the Joint Staff, told lawmakers. Grynkewich has been nominated to lead the U.S. military’s European Command.

Last month, President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would stop bombing the Houthis, who had been firing at U.S. warships and commercial vessels off Yemen’s coast. The group, which had said it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, stopped firing at U.S. ships under the agreement.

Rights groups had voiced concerns about civilian casualties during the nearly two-month-old U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen.

Last week, the Houthis said they would again target U.S. ships in the Red Sea if Washington became involved in Israeli attacks on Iran. Still, they have not resumed attacks after the U.S. struck three Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend.

On Monday, Trump announced an Israel-Iran ceasefire deal.

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(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by David Gregorio)