Iran’s FM: US, UK attacks on Yemen ‘strategic mistake’
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the decision made by the US and Britain to launch strikes on Yemen was “a strategic mistake”.
Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in New York where he is scheduled to take part in a meeting of the UN Security Council on Palestine.
“We sent out a strongly-worded message and stern warning to Americans. The decision by the United States and the United Kingdom to jointly attack areas in Yemen poses threats to regional peace and security, and expands the scope of the [Gaza] war,” he added.
He emphasized that he had sharply criticized London for escalation of tensions in the Red Sea and launching military strikes against Yemen, and described the moves as “a strategic mistake” during a meeting with his British counterpart David Cameron on the sidelines of the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss city of Davos.
On Monday, US and British forces launched strikes at eight different locations in Yemen, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, according to a joint statement signed by the six countries.
A senior US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said roughly 25 to 30 munitions were fired, including from warplanes launched from a US aircraft carrier.
So far, eight rounds of strikes over the past month have failed to stop attacks by Yemeni Armed Forces against shipping linked to the Israeli regime.
Strikes won’t go ‘unpunished’
Military strikes by the United States and Britain will not go “unpunished,” Yemen’s Ansarallah resistance movement warned on Tuesday.
“These attacks will not go unanswered and unpunished,” military spokesman Yahya Saree posted on X, formerly Twitter, listing raids in Sana’a, Hodeida, Taez and Al-Bayda provinces.
Senior officials from Yemen’s Ansarallah movement strongly condemned the latest US and UK strikes against the Arab country, stressing that such assaults will not deter Yemeni armed forces from pressing ahead with their operations against ships bound to Israeli ports.
Yemeni forces say they will continue to block Israeli ships or vessels heading to ports in the occupied Palestinian lands until the Tel Aviv regime’s aggression stops and the siege on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is lifted.
Yemenis have declared their open support for Palestine’s struggle against the Israeli regime since it launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 7.