Speaking to Reuters, Jamal Amer said that Yemen's Ansarallah will not "dial down" their action against Israeli shipping in the Red Sea in response to US military pressure or appeals from the allies such as Iran.
Jamal Amer spoke to Reuters late on Monday after the US launched a wave of strikes in areas of Yemen, who said last week they were resuming attacks on Red Sea shipping to support Palestinians in Gaza.
Tehran says the group takes decisions independently. US President Donald Trump said on Monday he would hold Iran responsible for any attacks carried out by the Houthis.
"There will be no talk of any dialling down of operations before ending the aid blockade in Gaza. Iran is not interfering in our decision but what is happening is that it mediates sometimes but it cannot dictate things," Amer said, in his first comments on the issue to a foreign news agency.
Speaking from Yemen's capital Sanaa, which has been hit by US strikes, he said he had not been informed of any message Iran delivered to the Yemeni envoy in Tehran.
There were messages from other powers to dial down, he said, but added, "Now we see that Yemen is at war with the US and that means that we have a right to defend ourselves with all possible means, so escalation is likely."
MNA
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