Gulf on edge: Iran warns of wider war
Shafaq News/ On Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that Israeli attempts to expand the conflict into the Gulf risk triggering a regional war.
“Israel’s strike on the Asaluyeh facility was a serious strategic miscalculation aimed at dragging the conflict into the Gulf,” Araghchi told reporters in Tehran. “The region’s complexity makes any military escalation a global threat, not just a regional one.”
The Asaluyeh site, located on Iran’s Gulf coast, is a strategic hub for gas and petrochemical exports. Its targeting has heightened fears of a spillover into maritime energy corridors critical to global supply chains.
He defended his country's targeting of Israeli economic facilities in Haifa as part of a retaliatory operation, characterizing the move as “legitimate self-defense.” Araghchi stressed that Iran’s response would intensify if Israeli attacks continue.
The minister claimed that Israel’s latest military operations “were not carried out without American coordination and approval,” asserting that Tehran possesses “solid evidence” of US complicity. “The US must accept responsibility,” he stated, urging Washington to condemn the strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure if it seeks to prove non-involvement.
“These strikes aim to collapse [US-Iran nuclear] talks and provoke further instability. We do not seek to expand the war unless forced to do so.”
Tensions have escalated rapidly since Israel launched Operation Rising Lion on June 13, targeting Iranian nuclear, military, and energy facilities, to which Iran responded with Operation True Promise 3, launching ballistic and hypersonic missiles at Israeli cities, causing significant damage.
