Iran has threatened to close off the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea if Israel and its allies continue to commit ‘crimes’ in Gaza.
Iran, which has backed Hamas, accused the US and other western states of propping up Israel’s alleged war crimes committed during its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, where more than 20,000 people have died since October 7.
‘They shall soon await the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, (the Strait of) Gibraltar and other waterways,’ Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a senior member of the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Corps, said on Saturday.
The Iran-aligned Houthi group, based in Yemen, has attacked several merchant vessels sailing through the Red Sea in retaliation against Israel’s brutal assault on the Gaza Strip, disrupting global trade and forcing some shipping companies to switch routes.
The White House said on Friday that Iran was ‘deeply involved’ in the planning of these attacks.
‘They shall soon await the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, (the Strait of) Gibraltar and other waterways,’ Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a senior member of the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Corps, said
The Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea are waterways that carry up to a fifth of the world’s maritime trade
Over 20,000 people have died in Gaza as a result of Israel’s ground offensive against the enclave
While Iran has no direct access to the Mediterranean itself and it was not clear how the Guards could attempt to close it off, Iran-backed proxies in Lebanon and Syria have access to these waterways, which carry around a fifth of the world’s maritime trade.
Naqdi talked of ‘the birth of new powers of resistance and the closure of other waterways’.
‘Yesterday, the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz became a nightmare for them, and today they are trapped … in the Red Sea,’ Naqdi added.
National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson told CNN that the US has intelligence that suggests Iran has provided a monitoring system which is essential for the attacks.
‘Iran has the choice to provide or withhold this support, without which the Houthis would struggle to effectively track and strike commercial vessels navigating shipping lanes through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,’ Watson said.
While Iran has no direct access to the Mediterranean itself and it was not clear how the Guards could attempt to close it off, Iran-backed proxies in Lebanon and Syria have access to these waterways
‘Iranian-provided tactical intelligence has been critical in enabling Houthi targeting of maritime vessels since the group commenced attacks in November,’ she added.
But Iran’s deputy foreign minister rejected claims that it was involved in the Houthi attacks.
‘The resistance (Huthis) has its own tools… and acts in accordance with its own decisions and capabilities,’ Iran’s deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri told the country’s Mehr news agency.
‘The fact that certain powers, such as the Americans and the Israelis, suffer strikes from the resistance movement… should in no way call into question the reality of the strength of the resistance in the region,’ he added.
The Houthis have fought against Yemen’s government since 2014, taking up large swathes of land, and have been backed by Iran.
Following Israel’s retaliatory offensive against the Gaza Strip, the group’s leaders declared war on Israel, and have launched several strikes against Israeli cities, despite being thousands of miles away.
Iran has repeatedly warned that Israel’s war against Hamas would soon widen. Last month, Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the intensity of the war meant its expansion ‘inevitable’.
The nation’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, previously said Iran sees it as ‘its duty to support the resistance groups’ but insisted that they ‘are independent in their opinion, decision and action’.
The UK and allies will not allow the Red Sea to become a ‘no go’ zone for shipping and will step up efforts to tackle Iran’s ‘malign influence’, Cabinet ministers have said.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the UK was committed to ‘repelling’ the attacks on ships using the vital trade route by an Iranian-backed group in Yemen.
And Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said Tehran must be sent an ‘incredibly clear message’ that its activities would not be tolerated.
Mr Shapps told the Sunday Times: ‘We are committed to protecting British interests – vessels sailing under a UK flag, or with British sailors or carrying goods destined for our shores.
‘We have seen the disruption the terrorist attacks have caused – with major operators including Maersk and BP avoiding the region.
‘We can’t allow any maritime area to become a no-go area, particularly such a vital route. But wider than that, we need to promote a safer world.
‘The spate of illegal attacks represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security.
‘The rules-based world order means we have to remain committed to repelling these attacks to protect the free flow of global trade, and I am determined the UK will remain a major player in that.’
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have targeted cargo vessels using the busy trade route, were just one of the groups backed by Iran, including Hamas.
The attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by the Houthis began in response to the conflict in Gaza, with the group claiming it was targeting vessels with Israeli links.
Further incidents involving ships being targeted by drones in the Red Sea were reported on Saturday.
Lord Cameron said: ‘Iran is a thoroughly malign influence in the region and in the world – there’s no doubt about that.
‘You’ve got the Houthis, you’ve got Hezbollah, you’ve got the Iranian-backed militias in Iraq that have actually been attacking British and American bases, troops.
‘And, of course, Hamas. So you’ve got all of these proxies, and I think it’s incredibly important that, first of all, Iran receives an incredibly clear message that this escalation will not be tolerated.
‘Second of all, we need to work with our allies to develop a really strong set of deterrent measures against Iran, and it’s important that we do that.
‘The level of danger and insecurity in the world is at an extremely high level compared with previous years and decades, and the Iran threat is a part of that picture.’
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a Royal Navy initiative which provides information on security incidents to shipping operators, highlighted a series of attacks on Saturday.
There were multiple reports of a drone flying low above a vessel before exploding around 1.5 nautical miles away from it, with the incident taking place around 50 nautical miles off the Yemeni coast.
Another drone attack was reported in the Red Sea around 45 nautical miles from Saleef, Yemen.
A further incident on Saturday took place around 200 miles south west of Veraval, India – well beyond the Red Sea which has been the focus of attacks on shipping – with the US claiming a kamikaze drone launched from Iran hit a chemical tanker.
Lord Cameron’s comments followed a visit to the Middle East which saw him discuss the situation in the Red Sea with his Egyptian counterpart.
Royal Navy warship HMS Diamond has already joined an international operation to protect cargo vessels and Lord Cameron hinted at potentially greater British involvement in the coalition.
If the Red Sea is too dangerous for shipping, vessels travelling between Asia and Europe will be forced to detour around the southern tip of Africa rather than use the Suez Canal, adding costs.