Iranian adviser warns conflict could reach Indian Ocean

Yahya Rahim Safavi, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, warned that renewed US or Israeli attacks could widen the conflict beyond the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea to the Indian Ocean and possibly farther. His remarks were released in a video by Iran’s Fars news agency on Thursday. Safavi described the wider reach as a possibility in response to further fighting. The warning does not establish that Iran has decided to carry out military action in the Indian Ocean or that an attack is imminent. The reports trace the statement to the same video, rather than to independent confirmation of an operational plan. The remarks came amid continuing tensions between Iran, the United States and Israel. They raise the prospect that any renewed fighting could involve a broader maritime area, but Safavi did not specify targets or describe actions that Iran would take there. One report said he had described military contingency plans for a worst-case scenario if attacks resume; that detail was not included in the other accounts. The Indian Ocean has featured in reports about the conflict already.