An adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned Thursday that Tehran could expand the Middle East conflict to the Indian Ocean if the United States launches further attacks.
“Since the conflict has spread from the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea, it is possible that, in response to more war, the front will expand even further, reaching the Indian Ocean and perhaps beyond,” Yahya Rahim Safavi said in a video released by Iran’s Fars news agency.
The warning came as tensions continued to rise across key waterways in the region.
Yemen’s Houthis, who are fighting Saudi-backed government forces, recently took control of parts of the Red Sea coastline, tightening their hold over the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a vital shipping route linking the Indian Ocean with the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal.
Iran has long provided military support to the Houthis but denies direct involvement in the Yemen conflict.
The Islamic Republic has also restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz off its southern coast, in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes that triggered the latest escalation in the Middle East at the end of February.
Iran and the United States are now vying for control of the strategic waterway, through which a significant share of the world’s oil and gas exports passed before the conflict.
Iranian officials had previously threatened to widen the geographic scope of the conflict if US strikes resumed.
But Thursday’s warning was the first time an adviser to the Supreme Leader explicitly referred to the Indian Ocean, where the United States and Britain operate the strategically located Diego Garcia military base, nearly 4,000 kilometres from Iran.
Officials from Iran and the United States held talks in New York this week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in another effort to end the conflict.
Iran has outlined conditions for ending the war, including the lifting of sanctions imposed on its economy and the unconditional release of Iranian assets frozen abroad.
In an exclusive interview with AFP on Tuesday, Revolutionary Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebi also cited an end to the war in Yemen as part of Iran’s conditions.
AFP
