The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards vowed on Saturday to reach "the enemy" far and near as tensions soar on key shipping routes where Tehran’s allies have been attacking vessels.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief Major General Hossein, WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards vowed on Saturday to reach "the enemy" far and near as tensions soar on key shipping routes where Tehran’s allies have been attacking vessels.
"Today, we are facing an all-out battle with the enemy," said Guards commander Hossein Salami at a ceremony in the southern Gulf port city of Bandar Abbas, where the Guards' navy unveiled a new ship named "Abu Mahdi" and 100 missile launchers.
Salami did not name the enemy, but 22 nations have agreed to participate in a U.S.-led coalition to safeguard commercial traffic in the Red Sea from attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement.
The Houthi attacks since November are a show of support for the Palestinian group Hamas in its war with Israel.
In response, many major shipping companies have switched to the longer and more costly route around the Africa's Cape of Good Hope rather than pass through the Suez Canal, which handles about 12% of global trade.
"We need to defend our national interests to wherever they extend," Salami said in a televised speech. "It will be harmful for the enemy to be found near and at a half distant. They should stay away from this area."
The Guards’ navy, he said, had made a "brilliant leap in its offensive and defensive powers" to challenge the world’s naval powers.
According to Iranian media, Iran’s Alborz warship entered the Red Sea earlier this month to secure shipping routes.
Editing by Jan Harvey
An apparent drone attack - claimed by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia - hit central Tel Aviv in the early hours of Friday, killing one man and slightly wounding four others, the Israeli military and emergency services said.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, called Iran's newly elected President Massoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday to congratulate him on his recent election victory, according to Saudi state media reports.
Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Wednesday that disruption to its container shipping via the Red Sea had extended beyond trade routes between the Far East and Europe to its entire global network.
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