Iran Praises Houthi Response to Israel-Hamas War, Ignores American, British Warnings
The ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas militant group has sparked international concern, with Iranian officials praising Yemen’s Houthi group for their response while ignoring calls from the United States and the United Kingdom to end support for the militants.
According to Iranian state news agency IRNA, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met with a senior Houthi official in Tehran on Monday and commended the group for its “strong and authoritative position in support of the oppressed” Palestinian people. The meeting also involved discussions about the Houthi’s continuous support for the Resistance Front, a network of regional terrorist and militant groups supported by Tehran, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and various proxy groups.
However, the Houthi group has been involved in recent attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, prompting warnings from the U.S. Navy. Despite these warnings, there are no signs that the group will scale back its attacks in the near future. The U.S. Navy intercepted two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired towards a Maersk container ship on Saturday, taking down three Houthi vessels and killing the crews.
American and British officials have called for Iran to cut its support for the attacks across the region, but Iranian Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Akbar Ahmadian refused and praised the militants for their “brave actions” against “Zionist aggression.”
In response to the attacks, Iran has deployed the warship Alborz to the Red Sea through the Bab al-Mandab Strait before Monday, with the deployment causing shipping companies to reroute their vessels around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope to avoid the violence.
The conflict has also prompted the U.S. to form Operation Prosperity Guardian, an international initiative to protect commercial ships traveling through the Red Sea. Five warships from the U.S., France, and the United Kingdom are patrolling the waters of the southern Red Sea and the western Gulf of Aden in an effort to protect ships and their routes.
The U.S. and the U.K., possibly along with another European country, have considered issuing a formal warning to the Houthis that they will strike military installations in Yemen if they do not cease their attacks. However, the leader of the Houthi group, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, warned that he would target American warships in the event of any such attack.
This conflict between the Houthi group, Israel, and other involved countries continues to pose a significant threat to the safety and security of commercial ships and the region as a whole.