A major official of Iran has threatened to close off the Mediterranean Sea in protest against Israel and its war against Hamas in Gaza.
“They shall soon await the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, Gibraltar and other waterways,” said Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, according to Iranian state media outlet Tasnim. Naqdi is the coordinating commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a primary branch of Iran’s military.
Naqdi spoke of the “crimes” Israel is committing in Gaza as a pretext for the alleged closure. He implicated the United States and other Western allies as belligerents in the Israeli war, who deserve to be punished for their actions.
This follows weeks of Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen attacking commercial and military ocean vessels in the Red Sea in retaliation against the ongoing war in Israel against Hamas. In response, the United States assembled a ten-nation naval coalition to confront the threat. However, major container companies have already paused their travel into the Red Sea, causing shipping delays.
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Iran has no access to the Mediterranean Sea and cannot possibly seal it themselves, especially not the Strait of Gibraltar. However, it does have allies in the eastern half of the body of water including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and various militia groups in Syria. Naqdi hinted at this in speaking 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,” Naqdi said of the West and its allies.
The Biden administration claimed on Friday, Dec. 22nd that Iran is “deeply involved” in the planning of trade disruptions, vessel attacks, and other Red Sea operations.
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