2023-12-14 22:22:47
Iran warned the United States once morest forming a multinational special operations force to protect navigation in the Red Sea, and predicted that this plan “will face exceptional problems.”
The United States announced last week that it was in talks with other countries to form that force following a series of attacks carried out by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen on ships in the Red Sea.
Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said that America’s presence in the Red Sea “will increase the complexity of the problems, and they will certainly take actions that lead to exceptional problems.” He added in a statement to the government ISNA agency, “There is no longer room in the region for anyone to move more than this, or for there to be a conflict of power, and it is certain that they will not do that, but if they take such an irrational step, they will face exceptional problems.” ».
Ashtiani claimed, “All countries have a presence in this region (the Red Sea), but it is our region, and it is certain that no one can maneuver in an area that we dominate.”
Ashtiani did not specify any measures Iran would take in response to the formation of a Red Sea force supported by the United States.
This comes following Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, in an interview with the American CBS network, denied his country’s responsibility for an attempt to target an American destroyer with a drone in the Red Sea.
Later, Abdullahian told the British newspaper the Financial Times: “Our military officials believe that deploying American aircraft carriers near our region, which facilitates access to them, is not a strength of the United States, but rather makes them more vulnerable to potential strikes.”
Last week, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters that Washington was holding talks with “other countries” regarding forming a “maritime task force… to ensure the safe passage of ships in the Red Sea,” but he did not provide further details.
The Houthi group in Yemen, loyal to Iran, is intervening in the conflict between Israel and Hamas by attacking ships in vital shipping lanes and launching drones and missiles at Israel, more than a thousand miles away from their headquarters in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.
The US and French naval forces strengthened their presence in the Red Sea to protect ships from the risk of being seized or attacked by the Houthis.
It is not the first time that the United States has formed a naval alliance to secure maritime navigation. In November 2019, a naval alliance called “Sentinal” began with the aim of securing territorial waters, following a series of Iranian attacks that targeted oil tankers and commercial ships in the Arabian Gulf. And the Gulf of Oman.
The coalition includes 11 countries: the United States, Britain, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Bahrain, Albania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and the Seychelles. The coalition’s mission extended from the Arabian Gulf, through the Strait of Hormuz, and the Sea of Oman, to Bab al-Mandab.
In parallel with the “Sentinel” mission, France led a European maritime coalition, which included the Netherlands, Denmark, and Italy, under the name “European Initiative for Maritime Control in the Strait of Hormuz” (EMASOH), and the European force took the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi, as its headquarters.
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