Iran is “directly involved” in Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea, a top US Navy official said Monday — two days after an Iranian-backed attack on an air base in Iraq injured at least two US servicemen. 

So far nearly 70 US military personnel have suffered injuries in the 151 attacks that have occurred on American troops in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17, American officials say.

Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the US Navy’s chief Mideast commander and head of the Navy’s 5th Fleet, said Monday that Tehran is doing everything it can to specifically support Yemen’s Houthi terror attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which have included targets on US shipping carriers and destroyers.

“What I’ll say is Iran is clearly funding, they’re resourcing, they are supplying, and they’re providing training,” Cooper Told the Associated Press. “They’re obviously very directly involved. There’s no secret there.”

Cooper noted that the Houthis — in solidarity with the Palestinian terror group Hamas in its war with US ally Israel — have expanded to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, while before, the Iran-backed terrorists kept their activities to the Persian Gulf.

Iran-backed militants also have launched missile attacks against US Mideast forces on land, with the latest military assault occurring around 6:30 p.m. local time at the Al Asad Air Base in Iraq, American officials have said. 

At least two US servicemen were being evaluated for what was described as “traumatic brain injury,” and an Iraqi soldier was injured as well, officials said.

The attacks on “Israeli-linked” shipping vessels in the Red Sea have destabilized the key route that carries about 15% of the world’s trade between Asia and Europe.

The Danish shipping giant Maersk diverted one of its carriers Monday away from the area, opting instead for a longer journey around the Cape of Good Hope, the company said in a statement.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war Oct. 7, shipping costs have skyrocketed by more than 600% because of the terror attacks targeting vessels transiting the Red Sea. 

“Clearly, the Houthi actions, probably in terms of their attacks on merchant shipping, are the most significant that we’ve seen in two generations,” Cooper said.

“The facts simply are that they’re attacking the international community; thus, the international response I think you’ve seen,” he added, referencing the US-led missile strikes against the Houthis last week.

Cooper’s acknowledgment of Tehran’s role in the Red Sea attacks came after Iranian sources claimed its military leaders, along with Hezbollah officials, were on the ground in Yemen aiding the Houthis.

Iran is accused of shipping out advanced drones with anti-ship cruise missiles, precision-strike ballistic missiles and medium-range missiles, sources said.

The US intercepted one such shipment during a raid Jan. 11 in the Red Sea, which uncovered “ballistic missile and cruise missile components,” officials said, adding that air defense parts were found as well.

Members from both Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and Hezbollah have also been spotted in Yemen training Houthi terrorists and helping them assemble missile parts that were smuggled into the country, according to former Yemeni army sources.

The US has launched at least eight airstrikes against Houthi-linked sites in Yemen since last week, with the Biden administration making a U-turn from 2021 and relisting the group as a terror organization.

A fresh wave of missile strikes by US and British forces targeting the Houthis in Yemen occurred Monday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian suggested last week that the attacks in the Red Sea will cease only when the war in Gaza ends.

Additional reporting by Caitlin Doornbos and Post wires