Iran threatens to close Strait of Gibraltar as tensions rise

Armed men stand on the beach as the merchant ship Galaxy Leader, captured by Houthi rebels last month, anchors off Yemen. Photo: KHALED ABDULLAH. /REUTERS

Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea unless Israel stops bombing the Gaza Strip as the US warned Tehran is “deeply involved” in attacks on shipping.

“They will do it soon. are waiting for the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar and other waterways,” Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a senior member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said today.

The general did not explain. how Iran, not bordering the Mediterranean, intended to carry out its threat.

Iranian militias in southern Lebanon and Syria do have access to the sea, through which about a fifth of global maritime trade passes.

The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have already forced several major shipping companies to reroute their ships to avoid the Red Sea, targeting merchant ships with drones and missiles.< /p>

On Saturday, a Liberian-flagged tanker was shot down by a drone while while sailing in the Arabian Sea off the coast of India and set it on fire.

Yemen's Houthis warned that they were ready to attack ships in the region. Photo: MOHAMMED HAMOUD/GETTY

“Some structural damage was also reported and some water had come on board. The ship belonged to Israel. She last called at Saudi Arabia and was heading to India at the time,” said the British maritime security company Ambrey.

The fire was extinguished without any casualties among the crew.

Immediately there was no claim of responsibility, but the attack came amid a wave of drone and missile attacks by the Houthis.

“Yesterday the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz became a nightmare for them. and today they are trapped… in the Red Sea,” said Brigadier General Naqdi, describing “the birth of a new resistance force.”

The Houthis have been fighting the Yemeni government since 2014. Photo: MOHAMMED HAMOUD/GETTY

The Houthi leadership has called the attacks retaliation for Israel's incursion into the Gaza Strip, led by another Tehran ally, Hamas.

They claim the attacks are targeting ships heading to Israel; however, several of the ships hit had no connection to Israel or the war.

On Friday, US intelligence accused Tehran of being “deeply involved” in the operational planning of attacks in the Red Sea.

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American intelligence suggests Iran is providing the monitoring system needed for the attacks, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson told CNN.

“Iran has a choice of whether to provide or withhold this support, without which the Houthis will have difficulty effectively tracking and targeting commercial shipping along the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden shipping lanes,” Ms. Watson said.

Houthi attacks

“Tactical intelligence provided by Iran has played a critical role in enabling the Houthis to attack shipping since the group began attacks in November,” she added.

Deputy Foreign Minister Iran has rejected accusations that the country is involved in the Houthi attacks, saying the group acted independently.

“The (Houthi) resistance has its own tools… and acts according to them. with their own decisions and capabilities,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri told the Iranian Mehr news agency.

“The fact that certain powers, such as the Americans and the Israelis, are suffering from attacks from the resistance movement … should in no way question the reality of the resistance force in the region,” he added.

War with Israel

The Houthis, who have been waging a civil war against the Yemeni government since 2014, are part of an Iran-led “axis of resistance” against Israel, the United States and the West.

< p>The group’s leaders declared war on Israel last month, launching salvo of drones and ballistic missiles into the southern Israeli city of Eilat, more than 1,000 miles away.

Iran has repeatedly warned of the widening conflict, and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said last month that the intensity of the war had made its expansion is “inevitable.”

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Iran considers it “its duty to support resistance groups.” but insisted they were «independent in their opinions, decisions and actions.»

Last month, Tehran rejected as «baseless» Israeli accusations that the Houthi rebels were acting under Tehran's «leadership,» when they captured the Red Sea. the ship belongs to an Israeli businessman.