12/24/2023–|Last updated: 12/24/202304:19 AM (Mecca time)
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri on Saturday denied US accusations against Tehran of involvement in attacks launched by the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) on commercial ships, saying that the group was acting on its own.
Bagheri said – in a statement to the Iranian Mehr News Agency – that “the resistance possesses the tools of its power and acts based on its decisions and capabilities.”
He continued, “The claims of some powers, such as America and the Zionists, after receiving strikes from the resistance movement, cannot in any way change the reality represented by the strength of the resistance in the region.”
Last month, Iran denied Israeli accusations of involvement in the Houthis’ seizure of a cargo ship linked to an Israeli businessman.
The Houthis recently launched more than 100 attacks with drones and missiles targeting 10 commercial ships, according to the US Department of Defense (Pentagon).
The day before yesterday, Friday, the White House published American intelligence information indicating that Iran had provided the Houthis with drones and missiles, in addition to tactical intelligence information.
Earlier Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said that Washington had previously asked Iran to advise the Houthis not to target American and Israeli interests in the region.
Abdullahian said – during a conference in Tehran in support of the Palestinians – that his country made clear to the Americans that “these groups decide, based on their interests, how to support Gaza.”
He continued, saying, “We did not and will not order them to stop these attacks.”
Supporting Gaza
It is noteworthy that the Houthis had announced that they would target all ships that pass through the Red Sea and are linked to Israel or sail to or from its ports, “in support of the Palestinian people” in the ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip since the seventh of last October.
On November 19, they announced the seizure of the Galaxy Leader cargo ship, owned by an Israeli businessman, in the Red Sea and taking it to the Yemeni coast, in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance.
They also repeatedly vowed to target ships owned or operated by Israeli companies, calling on all countries to withdraw their citizens working on the crews of these ships.