Iran will target oil facilities, undersea communication cables, data centres and artificial intelligence infrastructure in seven Gulf countries if the United States and Israel launch fresh attacks, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, has said.
The Guardian reported that Mehdi Mohammadi, an adviser to hardline politician Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is leading Iran in talks aimed at ending the conflict with the United States, said Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed in principle on attacking Iran but could not guarantee a successful outcome.
“We see the next conflict as an existential threat. A third war within two years means an existential threat. Our strategy is ‘no red lines’, ” Mohammadi said.
“We will break the conventional limits of time and geography in conflict. The war will last longer and extend across a wider geographical area than the enemy expects, ” Mohammadi added.
Iran’s ability to carry out such operations, including the possibility of receiving informal assistance from China or Russia, will be an important consideration in any US decision to resume the war.
Iranian media quoted Rezaei as saying: “If war begins, undersea communication cables, data centres and artificial intelligence facilities could also become targets. Our plan will be broader if the conflict resumes. ”
“No arrangement can allow attacks on Iran’s economic lifelines while treating the economic infrastructure that enables those attacks as untouched and immune from attack, ” Rezaei said.
Recent US media reports said US military advisers had prepared a detailed list of targets for a renewed joint attack on Iran after the US midterm elections on November 3. Potential targets could include Iranian missile sites, oil facilities and nuclear installations.
On Wednesday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said four commercial vessels attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz had been attacked simultaneously while conducting ship-to-ship oil transfers. The IRGC also claimed that three other vessels were damaged after striking mines in the strait.
The reported attacks and damage to the vessels could not be independently verified.
Reports in US media about an impending joint US-Israeli attack on Iran have affected international oil markets. Brent crude rose to $113.4 a barrel, one of its highest levels in recent times.
Trump has withdrawn from a decision to launch fresh attacks on Iran seven times over the past four months, according to the report. US officials have begun providing information about a potential new military operation as diplomatic negotiations have reached a deadlock.
Joint US-Israeli military exercises have also been extended amid the reciprocal threats. The drills include exercises conducted over Iraqi airspace.
Axios reported that dozens of Israeli warplanes flew close to Iran’s border earlier this week. A major fire has also broken out at a large aluminium factory in Arak, central Iran, an incident indicating that sabotage operations may be underway inside the country.
Reza Nasri, an international lawyer close to Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said a third phase of war would not remain confined to one area.
“Power grids, seawater desalination plants, oil refineries and ports across the region will be on fire. Millions of people will be left without water and electricity. Large numbers of refugees from Arab countries will head towards Europe, ” Nasri said.
“The Strait of Hormuz will be completely closed, oil prices will surge, and the global economy will move towards recession, ” Nasri said. “Israel’s economy, already damaged by preparations for a long war and missile attacks, will not be able to withstand the shock of a prolonged war of attrition. Trump will be trapped in a crisis that will consume the remainder of his presidency and leave ruins for his successors. ”
Fars News Agency, which is close to the IRGC, reported that Iran had issued instructions to its military and operational units. The instructions said that if a new large-scale war begins, particularly if Iranian officials are killed and civilians are killed, Iran’s retaliatory attacks would not be limited to military targets and could include political targets.
Iranian and Pakistani mediators discussed several familiar proposals again this week in an effort to find a possible ceasefire, although the proposals were revised in line with the situation.
The proposals include returning several billion dollars from Iran’s frozen assets. In exchange, Iran would lift its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, allow United Nations weapons inspectors to inspect Iranian nuclear facilities damaged by bombing, and send its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to a third country.
Iran has proposed lifting the Strait of Hormuz blockade within seven days and beginning discussions on its nuclear programme. Tehran has said certain preconditions must first be met, including the lifting of US sanctions.