Iran's Foreign Minister Warns the United States and Britain to Stop Attacks on the Houthis

United States fighter jets took off from the aircraft carrier to target the Houthi group. (Twitter/@CENTCOM)

JAKarta - Iran's Foreign Minister on Monday warned the United States and Britain, following their recent attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen, that military action was not a solution.

"We warn America and Britain to immediately stop the war against Yemen," said Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in a televised joint press conference with the Indian Minister of Foreign Affairs in Tehran, reported by CNN, January 16.

Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian said the Iran-allied Houthi militia would continue their attacks in the Red Sea "as long as the genocide in the Gaza war continues".

"Senior officials in Yemen's Sanaa (Houthi leader) told us, as long as the genocide in the Gaza war continues, they will take action to prevent the movement of Israeli ships or vessels towards Tel Aviv," he said, as reported by Reuters.

However, Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian added that the Houthis had assured Tehran that "they will not compromise maritime security".

Stopping the "genocide" in Gaza is the only way to end the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, the Iranian Foreign Minister was quoted as saying by Al Arabiya, underscoring that the solution is not a military move.

Foreign Minister AmirAbdollahian also said that Iran had conveyed a message to his country via Switzerland emphasizing the need to stop the war in Gaza.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian's remarks came before the Iran-backed Houthi group claimed responsibility for new attacks on American ships in the Gulf of Aden on Monday.

Yesterday, a senior official of the Houthi militant group said on Monday they would expand their targets to include US ships.

"The ship doesn't have to be headed to Israel for us to target it; it's enough if the ship is American," Nasruldeen Amer, a spokesman for the Houthi Group, told Al Jazeera.

"The United States is on the verge of losing its maritime security," he warned.