An Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said the Mediterranean Sea could be closed if the United States and its allies continued to commit “crimes” in Gaza, Iranian media reported on Saturday, without explaining how that would happen.
The Iranian state backs the Hamas terrorist group against Israel and it accuses the United States of backing what it calls Israeli crimes in Gaza, where weeks of bombardment have killed many people and driven most of the population from their homes.
“They shall soon await the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, [the Strait of] Gibraltar and other waterways,” Iranian state media Tasnim quoted Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, coordinating commander of the Guards, as saying.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group has over the past month claimed responsibility for attacks on merchant vessels sailing through the Red Sea—actions it says are in retaliation for Israel’s assault on Gaza, leading to some shipping companies switching routes and disruptions to global trade.
The White House on Friday said Iran was “deeply involved” in planning operations against commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
Iran has no direct access to the Mediterranean itself and it was not clear how the Guards could attempt to close it off, although Mr. Naqdi talked of “the birth of new powers of resistance and the closure of other waterways.”
“Yesterday, the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz became a nightmare for them, and today they are trapped … in the Red Sea,” Mr. Naqdi was quoted as saying.
The only groups backed by Iran on the Mediterranean are Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist group and allied militia in Syria, at the far end of the sea from Gibraltar.
