Iranian officer says other sea routes could be blocked
Dec 24, 2023
Tehran [Iran], December 24: A senior Iranian officer warned on Saturday that international sea routes other than the Red Sea could be blocked in response to the war in the Gaza Strip.
General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a spokesman for the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said that "with the continuity of the crimes in the Gaza Strip," the United States and its allies should also expect the emergence of further resistance groups.
The Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar and other routes could also soon be blocked, the general said, according to the Fars News Agency. Iran has denied all involvement in attacks by Yemen's Houthis on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Resistance groups in the region represented their own countries and took decisions in their own interests, the Foreign Ministry in Tehran has said.
The US has accused Tehran of direct involvement in the Red Sea attacks. On Friday, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson told CNN that newly declassified intelligence suggested Iran had been "deeply involved in planning the operations against commercial vessels in the Red Sea." "Iranian support throughout the Gaza crisis has enabled the Houthis to launch attacks against Israel and maritime targets, though Iran has often deferred operational decision-making authority to the Houthis," Watson told the broadcaster. (DPA)
Source: Qatar Tribune
