The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, vowed today to hit the country’s enemies wherever they are, as tension escalates in key sea lanes where Tehran’s allies attack ships.

“Today we are in open combat with the enemy,” Salami said during a ceremony in the southern Iranian coastal city of Bandar Abbas, where the country’s navy unveiled a new ship, the Abu Mahdi, and 100 rocket launchers.

The ship was named after Abu Mahdi al-Muhaddis, the commander of Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) who was killed along with Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, head of the Quds Force of the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps, in a US strike in Baghdad airport in 2020.

Salami did not name the enemy as the war between Israel and Hamas rages in the Gaza Strip, while Yemen’s Iran-aligned Shiite Houthi rebels have launched attacks on ships in the Red Sea in a show of support for the Palestinians.

Twenty-two countries under the US have agreed to join a coalition to defend shipping in the region.

In addition, major shipping companies avoid the Red Sea and do not go through the Suez Canal, through which about 12% of world trade passes, preferring the longer and more expensive route from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

“We must defend our national interests wherever they extend,” Salami stressed in his televised speech.

“We will smite the enemy near and far. It should stay away from this sea,” he added.

Iran’s Navy, he noted, has made “an amazing leap in its defensive and offensive capabilities” and is able to take on global navies.