Dec 23 (Reuters) – An Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander mentioned the Mediterranean Sea might be closed if the US and its allies continued to commit “crimes” in Gaza, Iranian media reported on Saturday, with out explaining how that will occur.
Iran backs Hamas in opposition to Israel and it accuses the US of backing what it calls Israeli crimes in Gaza, the place weeks of bombardment have killed hundreds of individuals and pushed a lot of the inhabitants from their houses.
“They shall quickly await the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, (the Strait of) Gibraltar and different waterways,” Tasnim quoted Brigadier Common Mohammad Reza Naqdi, coordinating commander of the Guards, as saying.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group has over the previous month attacked service provider vessels crusing by means of the Crimson Sea in retaliation for Israel’s assault on Gaza, main some delivery firms to change routes.
The White Home on Friday mentioned Iran was “deeply concerned” in planning operations in opposition to business vessels within the Crimson Sea.
Iran has no direct entry to the Mediterranean itself and it was not clear how the Guards might try to shut it off, though Naqdi talked of “the delivery of latest powers of resistance and the closure of different waterways.”
“Yesterday, the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz turned a nightmare for them, and right now they’re trapped … within the Crimson Sea,” Naqdi was quoted as saying.
The one teams backed by Iran on the Mediterranean are Lebanon’s Hezbollah and allied militia in Syria, on the far finish of the ocean from Gibraltar.
(Enhancing by Alexander Smith)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023.
