Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says the Islamic Republic has bluntly warned the United States that its decision to carry out joint strikes with the United Kingdom on targets in Yemen constitutes “a strategic mistake.”
Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in New York on Monday local time following his bilateral meetings. The top Iranian diplomat has traveled to New York to take part in a meeting of the UN Security Council on Palestine.
“We sent out a strongly-worded message and stern warning to Americans. The decision by the United States and the United Kingdom to jointly attack areas in Yemen poses threats to regional peace and security, and expands the scope of [Gaza] war,” he added.
The Iranian foreign minister noted that satellite images show that approximately 230 merchant vessels and oil tankers were cruising in the Red Sea at the time that the US and UK carried out their strikes against Yemen.
“This means that they (Americans and Britons) have well understood Yemenis’ point that only ships heading towards ports operated by the occupying Israeli regime will be blocked,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
He emphasized that he had sharply criticized London for escalation of tensions in the Red Sea and launching military strikes against Yemen, and described the moves as “a strategic mistake” during a meeting with his British counterpart David Cameron on the sidelines of the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss city of Davos.
On Monday, US and British forces launched strikes at eight different locations in Yemen, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, according to a joint statement signed by the six countries.
A senior US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said roughly 25 to 30 munitions were fired, including from warplanes launched from a US aircraft carrier.
So far, eight rounds of strikes over the past month have failed to stop attacks by Yemeni Armed Forces against shipping linked to the Israeli regime.
Iran commander: Yemenis are independent, take orders from no side
Meanwhile, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy says Yemeni Armed Forces are acting independently in their decision to launch attacks in the Red Sea on Israeli-owned ships or merchant vessels destined to the occupied territories.
“Yemen is an independent country with a strong army, and it also has a strong leader [Abdul-Malik al-Houthi], who acts independently and takes orders from no side,” Alireza Tangsiri stated.
“Yemen’s naval operations in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and their prevention of the transit of ships belonging to the Zionist regime or vessels choosing the occupying regime as a destination is in line with their support of Muslims,” he noted.
Tangsiri noted that “heroic Yemenis” are trying to stop the massacre of Palestinians, and it is the Western world, the US and all those that support the “bloodshed by Zionists” that need to change their approach.
Yemenis have declared their open support for Palestine’s struggle against the Israeli occupation since the regime launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 7 after the territory’s Palestinian resistance movements carried out a surprise retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity.
The relentless Israeli military campaign against Gaza has killed at least 24,620 people, most of them women and children. Another 61,830 individuals have been wounded.
Reports revealed that Israeli shipping companies have already decided to reroute their vessels in fear of attacks by Yemeni forces.
Yemeni forces have also launched missile and drone attacks on targets in the Israeli-occupied territories after the regime’s aggression on Gaza.
