Iran strongly condemned the US and UK strikes on the Houthis in Yemen on Friday calling it a “an arbitrary action,” and “a clear violation of Yemen's sovereignty.”

The strikes took place after repeated warnings to the Iran-backed militant group to cease their attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea. However, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Naser Kanaani called the US and UK action “a breach of international laws, regulations, and rights.”

Iran has been providing military support to the Houthis for at least a decade, supplying sophisticated weapons such as drones, and ballistic and cruise missiles.

The Yemeni group began targeting international shipping in mid-November after Iran’s ruler Ali Khamenei called for blockading Israel.

Kanaani, however, did not refer to the attacks on international shipping and said that the strikes by the United States and the United Kingdom was to support Israel in its war against Hamas.

Iranian government-controlled media, including those affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, were largely muted on Friday, simply reporting the strikes with their usual rhetoric. However, more rhetoric is expected to follow in the coming hours and days.

While the Biden administration acted against the Houthis after two months of almost daily attacks against commercial vessels, critics say that lifting US sanctions against the militant group in 2021 was a mistake. Some argue that strikes should be more sustained and aim to dismantle the military capabilities of the Houthis in order to re-establish deterrence in the region.