Iran threatens Mediterranean closure over 'crimes' in Gaza

An Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander has said the Mediterranean Sea could be closed if the United States and its allies continued to commit "crimes" in Gaza, Iranian media reported.

"They shall soon await the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, (the Strait of) Gibraltar and other waterways," Tasnim quoted Mohammad Reza Naqdi, coordinating commander of the Guards, as saying on Saturday.

Iran backs Palestinian resistance groups against Israel and it accuses the United States of backing what it calls Israeli crimes in Gaza, where weeks of bombardment have killed thousands of people and driven most of the population from their homes.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group has over the past month attacked merchant vessels sailing through the Red Sea in retaliation for Israel's assault on Gaza, leading some shipping companies to switch routes.

Iran 'deeply involved'

The White House on Friday said Iran was "deeply involved" in planning operations against commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

Iran has no direct access to the Mediterranean itself and it was not clear how the Guard could attempt to close it off, although Naqdi talked of "the birth of new powers of resistance and the closure of other waterways."

The only groups backed by Iran on the Mediterranean are Lebanon's Hezbollah and allied militia in Syria, at the far end of the sea from Gibraltar.