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Iran warns conflict could spread to Indian Ocean if US resumes attacks
Iranian adviser Yahya Rahim Safavi warns that the conflict could reach the Indian Ocean if the United States resumes attacks on Iran.
Iran has warned that the ongoing Middle East war could extend as far as the Indian Ocean if the United States carries out further attacks.
Yahya Rahim Safavi, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, gave the warning on Thursday in a video published by Iran’s Fars news agency.
“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,” Safavi said.
The warning comes as Yemen’s Houthis, who are engaged in fighting against Saudi-backed government forces, recently captured the Red Sea coastline, increasing their control over the strategically important Bab al-Mandab Strait.
The waterway is a major shipping route connecting Asia with Europe through the Suez Canal.
Iran has for years supplied military support to the Houthis but has denied being directly involved in the Yemen conflict.
The Islamic Republic has also closed the Strait of Hormuz, off Iran’s coast, following US-Israeli strikes that sparked the Middle East war at the end of February.
Tehran and Washington are now contesting control of the strategic waterway, which handled much of the world’s oil and gas shipments before the war.
Iranian officials had previously threatened to widen the conflict geographically if the United States resumed its strikes.
Thursday’s warning, however, was notable because it was the first time an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader specifically identified the Indian Ocean as a potential new front.
The Indian Ocean is home to the strategic US-British military facility at Diego Garcia, located nearly 4,000 kilometres from Iran.
Meanwhile, Iranian and US officials met in New York this week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly as part of renewed efforts to end the conflict.
Iran has demanded several conditions for ending the war, including the removal of sanctions against its economy and the unconditional release of its frozen assets held overseas.
Hossein Mohebi, a spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, also spoke about ending the war in Yemen during an exclusive AFP interview on Tuesday.
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