Iranian Military Spokesman Warns War Could Expand if US Miscalculates
Iran’s military spokesman Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia has warned that a new war between Iran and the United States could spread across the entire region and draw energy and communications infrastructure into the conflict. Speaking to the Mehr News Agency on Wednesday (26/8/2026), Akraminia cautioned that any miscalculation by Iran’s adversaries would trigger an immediate response and potentially widen the geographical scope of the conflict.
“A possible future war could expand into 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, despite previously being 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.
Akraminia said a possible new war could also encompass other battlefields, including energy and communications infrastructure throughout the region. He specifically mentioned energy infrastructure and communication lines that largely run along the seabed in offshore waters between 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 from those aircraft, Majid Kazemi, was later found, while the other three remain missing.
Qatar has denied detaining the three pilots. Qatar stated that its search and rescue teams found the body of one pilot but found no evidence of the capture of the other pilots.
The statement was made amid the Iran-US conflict that has been ongoing since 28 February, following a joint US and Israeli military strike against Iran. The conflict subsequently spread to several 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 sides.