The Iran denied on Saturday Washington, which accused the Islamic State of being involved in attacks on merchant ships launched by the Houthi rebels of Yemen, arguing that “the organization acts on its own.”

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have launched more than 100 drone and missile attacks, targeting 10 merchant ships in the Red Sea, the Pentagon said, in a show of solidarity with Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, where Israel is fighting Hamas.

Yesterday Friday, the White House publicly released American information that the Iran provides drones, missiles and strategic intelligence to the Houthis, who control vast areas of Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, the Times of Israel reports.

“The “resistance” [Χούθι] it has its own tools … and acts according to its own decisions and capabilities,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri told the Mehr news agency.

“The fact that certain powers, like the Americans and the Israelis, are being hit by the “resistance movement”… it should in no way call into question the reality of the strength of the resistance in the region,” he added.

In the meantime, Israel estimates that the drone that attacked a tanker off their coast west coast of India on Saturday at noon, launched directly from Iran, reports Channel 12, although that estimate has not been confirmed.

Tehran threatens to close the Mediterranean over crimes in Gaza

A commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned on Saturday that the Mediterranean Sea could be closed if the US and its allies continue to commit “crimes” in Gaza.

The news was reported by Iranian media, without however explaining how this could be done.

“They should soon expect the closure of the Mediterranean (Strait of Gibraltar) and other sea passages“, the Tasnim news agency reported citing Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, coordinating commander of the Revolutionary Guards.