Raisi Pledges Continued Support For Proxies, As Biden Warns Iran

Iran will continue to support the Palestinians and “resistance groups”, President Ebrahim Raisi stated in Tehran on Sunday, emphasizing that compromise is not feasible.

“We have repeatedly stated without hesitation that supporting Palestine and resistance groups is on the agenda of the Islamic Republic's policies,” Raisi stated on Sunday.

Raisi’s speech in an Islamic gathering appeared to be the only response to President Joe Biden’s remarks on Saturday where he said Washington had delivered a private warning to Iran about its Houthi allies in Yemen responsible for attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

"We delivered it privately and we're confident we're well-prepared," Biden told reporters at the White House before departing to the Camp David presidential retreat for the weekend.

On Friday, after American and British planes and ships attacked dozens of Houthi targets in Yemen, Biden told reporters that the US had delivered a message to Tehran.

Reactions from the Iranian government, the Revolutionary Guard and a web of hardliner media and politicians remained muted to Biden’s remarks. Overall, reactions even to the bombings in Yemen were low-key by officials and state media.

Biden, whose administration removed the Houthis from a State Department list of "foreign terrorist organizations" immediately after assuming office in 2021, was asked by reporters on Friday whether he felt the term "terrorist" described the movement now. "I think they are," Biden said.

Critics in Washington and elsewhere have expressed frustration that the Biden administration after pursuing a policy of accommodation with Iran and the Houthis for three years, still has not taken more decisive steps to establish deterrence against Tehran.

In 2023, Washington greenlit the release of up to $16 billion of frozen funds to Tehran, in an apparent de-escalation deal, while Hamas, another Iranian militant proxy, was preparing the October 7 attack on Israel. Even after the attack and the outbreak of the Gaza war the administration has not re-frozen the funds kept in Qatar and Oman.

Iran’s exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi issued a statement on Saturday harshly criticizing the Biden administration.

“While the Islamic Republic is financing and training its Houthi proxies, the American administration is facilitating this terror group’s continued access to capital,” he stated, in a reference to the released funds.

Critics also say that President Biden has allowed Iran to increase its oil exports to China, relaxing stringent sanctions imposed by his predecessor. Tehran’s oil revenues have increased from less than $10 billion in 2019 to nearly $30 billion in 2023.

“When he took office, President Biden made two critical mistakes: delisting the Houthis and refusing to implement oil sanctions on the dictatorship in Tehran.,” Pahlavi said in his statement. He went on to blame Biden’s policies for the current situation in the Middle East and urged the previous ‘maximum pressure policy to be restored. “This capitulation has brought about the latest regional conflagration by legitimizing this terror group and doubling the oil exports of their patron in Tehran— which has sold more than $100 billion worth since this administration took office.”