Sword-waving in the Red Sea: Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani warned Thursday that the multinational expeditionary force initiated by the United States will face "extraordinary difficulties" and that his country has "absolute superiority" in the Red Sea.
The defence minister's remarks were quoted by the local ISNA news agency, hours after the Australian government said it was considering sending a warship to the region after being requested by the United States. "If they make such a stupid and irrational move, they will face extraordinary problems. No one can make moves in an area where we have absolute superiority. The Iranian defense minister said.
The Iranian defense minister's threat apparently relates to the capabilities of the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, and not to Iran's direct intervention in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait crisis. Iran does not officially maintain a permanent naval presence in the Red Sea, but IRGC ships and Iranian submarines have operated in the region in the past.
The United States is currently working on assembling a multinational naval force to protect freedom of navigation in Egypt and prevent damage to ships leaving the Suez Canal and passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, off the coast of Yemen. The Houthi rebels, a pro-Iranian faction that controls large parts of Yemen, attacked ships with cruise missiles and drones and even seized a ship owned by a British company in an attempt to impose a blockade on vessel traffic to and from Israel in Egypt.
Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, Photo: AP
Yesterday, two missiles were fired from a Houthi-controlled area at a commercial ship near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait near Yemen. According to an AP report, the missiles missed their target.
A U.S. official told The Associated Press that a warship intercepted at the same time as a drone incident sent by the Houthis.
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