Iran warns war with US could spread across region

Iranian Military Spokesman Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia has warned that a new war that may occur between Iran and the United States could spread across the entire region and drag energy and communications infrastructure into the conflict.

Speaking to the Mehr News Agency on Wednesday, Akraminia warned that any miscalculation by Iran’s adversaries would trigger an immediate response and potentially expand the geographical scope of the conflict.

“A possible future war could spread to new arenas,” Akraminia said, as quoted by Anadolu.

Akraminia’s statement referred to the Bab al-Mandab Strait and US bases in Syria. He said both areas had already become part of the conflict, even though they were previously outside the geographical scope of the fighting.

“At present, the threat is spread across the entire region and we have the capability to confront and overcome it,” he said.

In particular, he referred to energy infrastructure and communication lines, most of which run along the seabed in the offshore waters of Iran and the Arabian Peninsula, as well as across the Gulf of Oman.

“Wherever the enemy has interests, if aggression occurs, that area can be considered a legitimate target for the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he stressed.

Akraminia also urged Qatar to step up efforts to determine the fate of three Iranian pilots missing since Iran’s air operation against a US base in Qatar on 2 March.

Two Iranian Sukhoi aircraft attacked the base before being shot down on their return journey. The body of one of the four pilots of the aircraft, Majid Kazemi, was later found, while the other three remain missing.

The statement was delivered amid the Iran-US conflict that has been ongoing since 28 February, following a combined US and Israeli military attack on Iran.

The conflict subsequently spread to a number of areas in the region after Iran retaliated by attacking US military positions. The war then involved several regional fronts and disrupted maritime traffic.

Iran and the US eventually signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 18 June, mediated by Qatar and Pakistan, to end the fighting and pave the way for negotiations.

Iran later accused the US of not fully implementing the agreement in the MoU, while Qatar and Pakistan continued diplomatic efforts between the two parties.