Iran issued a warning today, Sunday, to the United States about the possibility of targeting two cargo ships in the Middle East, long suspected of operating as forward operating bases for Iranian commando forces, after the US and the United Kingdom launched a wide-scale air campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The statement issued by Iran regarding the Behshad and Saviz ships appears to indicate Tehran's growing concern over recent US strikes in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, which targeted militias supported by the Islamic Republic.

These attacks, which are themselves a retaliatory campaign for the killing of three US soldiers and the wounding of dozens more in Jordan, all originate from the war waged by Israel against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which has escalated tensions throughout the broader Middle East and raised fears of a regional conflict outbreak.

The Yemeni raids on Sunday night struck six Yemeni provinces controlled by the Houthi rebels, including the capital Sanaa. The Houthis did not provide any assessment of the damages, but the United States described the strikes on underground missile arsenals, launch sites, and helicopters used by the rebels.

The Houthi military spokesman, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said, "These attacks will not deter the Yemeni forces and the Yemeni people from continuing their support for the Palestinians in confronting the occupation and its Zionist crimes," adding that "the air strikes carried out by the aggressors will not go unanswered."

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned the Houthis after the strikes that they "will continue to face more consequences if they do not end their illegal attacks on international shipping and maritime vessels." British Foreign Secretary David Cameron echoed this message, saying, "Houthi attacks must stop."

The Behshad and Saviz ships are registered as commercial cargo ships with a company based in Tehran, sanctioned by the US Treasury Department as a front for the state-run shipping lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The "Saviz" ship, which later became "Behshad," has loitered for years in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen and is suspected of operating as espionage sites for Iran’s semi-military Revolutionary Guard.

In 2017, Saudi Arabia described the Saviz base as a naval base and weapons transfer point for the Revolutionary Guard, staffed by men wearing military uniforms. Footage broadcast on Saudi-owned TV channels showed the ship armed with what appeared to be a covered machine gun mounted on its deck.

In a video released by the Iranian regular army on Sunday, one of the narrators described the ships for the first time as "floating weapons depots." The narrator describes the Behshad as assisting an Iranian mission "to combat piracy in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden." However, it is not publicly known that Iran has participated in any of the recent campaigns against rising Somali piracy in the region following Houthi attacks.

Before the start of the new US airstrike campaign, the Behshad forces headed south to the Gulf of Aden. It now docks in Djibouti in East Africa, directly off the coast from a Chinese military base in the country.

The statement ends with a warning accompanied by a montage of footage of US warships and the American flag.

The video stated that "Those who engage in terrorist activities against Behshad or similar ships endanger international maritime routes and security and bear global responsibility for potential future international risks."

The US Fifth Fleet, based in the Middle East, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the threat.

The "Saviz" ship, now in the Indian Ocean near where the United States claims Iranian drone attacks recently targeted ships, has been previously attacked. In 2021, a possible sticky mine explosion caused a hole in the structure of "Saviz," forcing Iran to bring the ship home. This attack, suspected to have been carried out by Israel, is part of a broader shadow war between Tehran and Israel following the collapse of the Iranian nuclear deal.