Pezeshkian Thanks Yemen's Houthis for 'Support of Palestine'

Masoud Pezeshkian, the winner of the Iranian presidential election, expressed gratitude to Yemen's Houthis for their 'support of the Palestinian people.' According to Iranian media, Mr. Pezeshkian, in a phone conversation on Sunday, July 15, with Mahdi al-Mashat, the head of the Supreme Political Council representing this movement, described the support of the leader of Ansar Allah, the military branch of Yemen's Houthis, for Palestine as a 'brave' decision. The Houthis, who are considered to be supported by the Islamic Republic, began attacking ships in the Red Sea under the slogan 'supporting the Palestinian people' a few weeks after the war in Gaza started. The initial claim of Ansar Allah was that they were targeting ships owned by or linked to Israel, but several governments around the world reported that their ships were also targeted. In missile and drone attacks on at least 70 ships, four crew members were killed, and two ships sank. The Houthis have also seized a commercial ship for months. Maritime trade with commercial ships in the Red Sea, valued at an annual exchange of one trillion dollars, has been disrupted due to the Houthi attacks. Pezeshkian emphasized 'comprehensive support' for Hamas in a letter to Haniyeh. On July 11, he reiterated the Islamic Republic's 'comprehensive support' for groups that the Islamic Republic refers to as 'resistance groups' in a letter to the head of Hamas's political bureau, which is considered a terrorist group by the U.S. and the EU. Two days prior, he had also emphasized continued support for these proxy groups of the Islamic Republic in the region in a message to the Secretary-General of Hezbollah Lebanon. Since Masoud Pezeshkian's election as president, he has emphasized the continuation of support for the Islamic Republic's proxy groups in the region. Previously, Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah Lebanon, had stated that a change in the presidency in Iran does not mean a change in Iran's support for Hezbollah and other Iran-supported groups in the region.