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Tehran Warns Against Cooperation with ‘Maritime Alliance to Deter Houthis’

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi with the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, last Friday (Iranian Presidency)
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi with the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, last Friday (Iranian Presidency)
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Tehran Warns Against Cooperation with ‘Maritime Alliance to Deter Houthis’

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi with the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, last Friday (Iranian Presidency)
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi with the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, last Friday (Iranian Presidency)

In response to Washington’s efforts to form a maritime alliance to address threats to navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Iran issued a warning against collaboration with the US in countering Houthi attacks.

Ali Shamkhani, the political affairs advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, defended Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea, describing them as “courageous.”

Shamkhani asserted that Houthi actions aimed at restricting maritime movement to and from Israel put pressure on a vital lifeline for the latter.

This marks the first official commentary from a high-ranking official in Khamenei’s office regarding Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.

Mohsen Rezaee, senior military officer in the Revolutionary Guard and former Vice President of Iran for Economic Affairs, dismissed accusations of Iran supporting the Houthis as a “big lie.”

Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator and deputy foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, emphasized the importance of resistance forces for stability in the region.

He hinted at a potential shift in the strategic, political, and security landscape in the region after the war in Gaza, stating that resistance could not be denied as an effective player in the regional map.

On his part, Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani warned against the formation of the maritime alliance, asserting Iran’s predominance over the Red Sea and rejecting any maneuvering by external forces in the region.

This statement raised concerns among Iranians about the possibility of direct involvement in a war with the US.

Conservative Iranian newspaper “Khorasan” suggested that Houthi actions significantly influenced the calculations of the US, the UK, Israel, and their allies concerning the war and the Gaza crisis.

The newspaper predicted the failure of any multinational task force to protect shipping in the Red Sea against the Houthis and highlighted Ashtiani’s warning about the formation of such an alliance.

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Putin Issues Warning to US with New Nuclear Doctrine

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Yevgeny Balitsky (not pictured), the Russian-installed Governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, 18 November 2024. (EPA/ Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Yevgeny Balitsky (not pictured), the Russian-installed Governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, 18 November 2024. (EPA/ Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool)
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Putin Issues Warning to US with New Nuclear Doctrine

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Yevgeny Balitsky (not pictured), the Russian-installed Governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, 18 November 2024. (EPA/ Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Yevgeny Balitsky (not pictured), the Russian-installed Governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, 18 November 2024. (EPA/ Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a warning to the United States on Tuesday, lowering the threshold for a nuclear strike just days after the administration of Joe Biden reportedly allowed Ukraine to fire American missiles deep into Russia.

The updated doctrine, formally known as "The basics of state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence", outlines the threats that would make Russia, the world's biggest nuclear power, contemplate using such weapons.

Russia would consider a nuclear strike if it, or its ally Belarus, faced aggression "with the use of conventional weapons that created a critical threat to their sovereignty and (or) their territorial integrity", the new doctrine said.

The previous doctrine, set out in a 2020 decree, said Russia may use nuclear weapons in case of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatened the existence of the state.

Other innovations included considering any conventional assault on Russia by a non-nuclear power supported by a nuclear power to be a joint attack. Any mass aerospace attack with aircraft, cruise missiles and unmanned aircraft that crossed Russia's borders could also trigger a nuclear response.

"Aggression against the Russian Federation and (or) its allies on the part of any non-nuclear state with the participation or support of a nuclear state is considered as their joint attack," the doctrine said.

"Aggression of any state from a military coalition (bloc, union) against the Russian Federation and (or) its allies is considered as aggression by the coalition (bloc, union) as a whole."

The Kremlin said Russia considered nuclear weapons as a means of deterrence and that the aim of the updated text was to make absolutely clear to potential enemies that the inevitability of retaliation should they attack Russia.

Together, Russia and the US control 88% of the world's nuclear warheads. Putin is Russia's primary decision-maker on the use of Russia's nuclear arsenal.

WAR

Weeks before the November US presidential elections, Putin ordered changes to the nuclear doctrine.

Those changes have now been formally approved by Putin. Analysts said at the time that the change to the doctrine was an attempt by Putin to draw a red line for the West.

The war in Ukraine, which entered its 1,000th day on Tuesday, has triggered the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis - considered to be the closest the two Cold War superpowers came to intentional nuclear war.

The reported decision on the use of US missiles by the outgoing Biden administration - though yet to be confirmed by Washington - has escalated tensions over Ukraine. Washington says Russia's deployment of North Korean soldiers in Russia is an escalation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on reports that Kyiv may use US-made ATACMS missiles in support of Ukraine's military incursion into Russia's Kursk region, said on Tuesday that the Russian military was monitoring the situation very closely.

Putin said on Sept. 12 that Western approval for such a step would mean "the direct involvement of NATO countries, the United States and European countries in the war in Ukraine" because NATO military infrastructure and personnel would have to be involved in the targeting and firing of the missiles.

"Nuclear deterrence is aimed at ensuring that a potential adversary understands the inevitability of retaliation in the event of aggression against the Russian Federation and/or its allies," Peskov said.

The United States in 2022 was so concerned about the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons by Russia that it warned Putin over the consequences of using such weapons, according to Central Intelligence Agency Director Bill Burns.

Russia has begun mass production of mobile bomb shelters that can protect against a variety of man-made threats and natural disasters including radiation and shockwaves.