TEHRAN: Iran urged Monday the United States and Britain to “stop the war against Yemen” following their recent strikes on targets of the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels.
US and British forces have hit scores of targets in Yemen after weeks of Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, claiming to act in solidarity with Palestinians in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.
The strikes have heightened fears that Israel’s war with Palestinian militant group Hamas could engulf the wider region.
“We warn America and Britain to stop the war against Yemen immediately,” said Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a Tehran press conference with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
He also called on the United States and Israel “to stop the war against Gaza” and said Huthis “will block Israeli ships or ships bound for Israeli ports” as long as the conflict continues. Iran has previously called the strikes on Yemen “arbitrary” and a “violation” of international law.
The Israel-Hamas war erupted with unprecedented attacks by Palestinian militants on southern Israel on October 7 that resulted in about 1,140 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
The militants also seized about 250 hostages, 132 of whom Israel says remain in Gaza, including at least 25 believed to have been killed.
Israel has responded with a relentless military campaign that has killed at least 24,100 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
During Monday’s press conference, Jaishankar said India supported a “two-state solution where the Palestinian people are able to live freely and in an independent country within secure borders”.
The Houthis, who control large swathes of Yemen including the capital Sanaa since 2014, are part of a Tehran-aligned “axis of resistance” against Israel and its allies.
The rebels’ attacks in the Red Sea have disrupted traffic along the vital trade route, with many firms rerouting their vessels around the tip of Africa, with knock-on effects for the world economy.
Washington said Iran was “deeply involved” in the Houthi attacks, a claim Tehran has denied.
Britain’s foreign minister David Cameron has also accused Iran of being a “malign actor in the region”.
President Ebrahim Raisi has said Iran sees it as “its duty to support the resistance groups”, but insisted that they “are independent in their opinion, decision and action”.
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