UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps has urged Iran to immediately halt its support for Yemeni Houthi rebels as the ongoing Middle East conflict is spiraling out.

Shapps, in an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, emphasized that global patience is wearing thin and expressed deep concern over the continuous missile attacks on trade vessels in the Bab el-Mandab Strait and the Red Sea.

“You must get the Houthi rebels, others who are acting as proxies for you, Lebanese Hezbollah are obvious examples, [and] some in Iraq and Syria, you must get these different organizations to cease and desist,” he addressed Tehran.

Iran is the main supporter of Houthi rebels. Iran's involvement in the current conflict, which started after Hamas Islamist militia attacked Israel on October 7, extends to providing aid and training to Hamas as well as dozens of militia groups in Iraq and Syria along with substantial financial and logistic backing to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The remarks by the British defense secretary came in the wake of coordinated US and UK airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, signaling a heightened international response to the escalating tensions in the region.

The military strikes were a retaliatory measure in response to recent attacks on trade vessels, which have led several companies to suspend operations in the region.

Following the joint strikes on Friday, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the US and UK of supporting "war crimes" committed by Israel against the Palestinian people and Gaza.