Iran warns of Indian Ocean expansion if US conducts further strikes

TEHRAN – An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned on Sept 24 that Tehran may expand the Middle East war to the Indian Ocean if the United States attacks again.

“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,” said Yahya Rahim Safavi in a video released by Iran’s Fars news agency.

Yemen’s Houthis, fighting Saudi-backed government forces, recently took control of the Red Sea coastline, tightening their grip on the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, which links Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal.

Iran has long provided military support to the Houthis but denies any involvement in the Yemen conflict.

The Islamic republic has also locked down the Strait of Hormuz off the Iranian coast in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes that triggered the Middle East war at the end of February.

Iran and the US are now vying for control of Hormuz, through which much of the world’s oil and gas passed before the war.

Iranian officials have threatened to expand the geographic scope of the conflict if US strikes resume.

But the warning on Sept 24 is the first time an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader explicitly mentioned the Indian Ocean, home to a strategic US-British military base at Diego Garcia, nearly 4,000km from Iran.

Officials from both countries held talks in New York this week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in a further attempt to end the conflict.

Iran has put forward its conditions for ending the war, including the lifting of sanctions targeting its economy and the unconditional release of its frozen assets abroad.

On Sept 22, a spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Mohebi, also mentioned ending the war in Yemen. AFP