BY SRH
The Saudi coalition and the Houthi rebels of Yemen resumed fighting just last month as a result of the Iran conflict’s spillover. Currently, Iran is making threats to escalate the conflict even beyond, possibly into the Indian Ocean.
An advisor to Iran’s top leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, Yahya Rahim Safavi, issued a dire warning on Thursday about the potential expansion of the conflict front in the event of another attack on the Islamic Republic. “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 stated in a video released by Iran’s Fars news agency.
Digital imagery of Diego Garcia, the biggest landmass in the Chagos Islands and the site of the joint U.S.-UK military installation, captured by NASA/CFR.
An advisor to Iran’s top leader has never before raised the possibility of attacking targets in the Indian Ocean as a serious military concern.
Deep in the Indian Ocean, almost 2400 miles offshore, is the strategically important British military installation at Diego Garcia, which is also frequently utilized by the United States.
During the peak of Trump’s Operation Epic Fury, the Iranians allegedly fired intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) on the base.
On March 21st, Diego Garcia was initially in the sights of two missiles; according to the Wall Street Journal, one of them malfunctioned mid-flight, while the other was engaged by an SM-3 interceptor missile launched from a US Navy vessel; however, it is still unknown whether this second missile actually hit its intended target.
A military advisor to Iran’s supreme leader indicated that Tehran may expand the fight to the Indian Ocean if the US or Israel hits again, severely undermining expectations of a deal. As a result, Brent jumped to over $106. While meeting with the US delegation at the United Nations General Assembly this week in New York, Iranian negotiators vowed not to budge from Tehran’s demanding terms for a ceasefire (Bloomberg). A second Houthi assault on Saudi Arabia has been reported:
“They broke the agreement and committed another vicious act,” the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said after intercepting six ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis, who are backed by Iran. “We have therefore toughened our conditions,” said Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohbi, spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in an interview with AFP this week. Additionally, he warned that the United States “will only make things difficult for themselves” until it alters its course.
“We are not their playthings, and they cannot unilaterally violate an agreement they signed whenever they please,” he pointed out. “We believe we have won this war, and we are currently consolidating that victory into a total deterrent force,” said he.
