An adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has warned that Tehran could widen the ongoing Middle East conflict to the Indian Ocean if the United States launches another attack.
“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.
The warning comes after Yemen’s Houthis, who are fighting Saudi-backed government forces, recently seized control of parts of the Red Sea coastline, strengthening their hold over the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, a key maritime route connecting Asia and Europe through the Suez Canal.
Iran has for years provided military assistance to the Houthis but has denied taking part directly in the Yemen conflict.
The Islamic Republic has also restricted movement through the Strait of Hormuz, located off its southern coast, following US-Israeli strikes that sparked the current Middle East conflict at the end of February.
Iran and the United States are currently contesting control of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global energy route through which a significant portion of the world’s oil and gas was transported before the conflict.
Iranian officials had previously warned that the geographical reach of the conflict could be expanded if the United States resumes its attacks.
However, Thursday’s statement marked the first time an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader specifically referred to the Indian Ocean, where the United States and Britain maintain a strategic military base at Diego Garcia, located nearly 4,000 kilometres from Iran.
Officials from Iran and the United States also held talks in New York this week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, as part of renewed efforts to bring the conflict to an end.
Iran has outlined conditions for ending the war, including the removal of sanctions imposed on its economy and the unconditional release of Iranian assets frozen overseas.
In an exclusive interview with AFP on Tuesday, a spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Mohebi, also raised the issue of ending the war in Yemen.
