Iran warns against a proposed U.S.-backed Red Sea force (ISNA).

According to reports published by official Iranian media on Thursday, Iran’s Minister of Defense, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, warned that a proposed multinational task force to defend ships in the Red Sea that the United States would support would meet “extraordinary problems.”

The statements made by Ashtiani came after the United States announced the previous week that it was in talks with other countries to establish a task force in response to a string of attacks on ships in the Red Sea carried out by the Houthis in Yemen, which Iran supports.

According to statements published Thursday by the official Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA), Ashtiani stated, “If they make such an irrational move, they will be faced with extraordinary problems.”

He remarked, “Nobody can make a move in a region where we have predominance,” alluding to the Red Sea. “We have complete control over the area.”

Ashtiani did not provide any specifics of the actions that Iran was prepared to take in response to establishing a Red Sea task force that the United States supported.

Although Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor for the United States, stated to reporters the previous week that the United States was in discussions with “other countries” regarding the formation of a “maritime task force… to ensure safe passage of ships in the Red Sea,” he did not provide any other information.

In Yemen, the Houthis, who are affiliated with Iran, have entered the fight between Israel and Hamas by targeting vessels on important commerce routes and launching drones and missiles at Israel. This occurred more than 1,000 miles away from their authority seat in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital.

To ensure the safety of ships against the possibility of capture or attack by the Houthis, the fleets of the United States and France have increased their presence in the Red Sea.