Iran Issues Stark Warning to Regional States over US Bases
Tehran says any location used to launch attacks on Iran will be targeted
TEHRAN: Brigadier General Ali Fadavi, head of the advisory group to the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has warned regional countries against allowing the United States to use their territory as a launch point for military operations against Iran, saying any location from which an attack originates could be targeted.
Fadavi made the remarks during a televised interview, saying Tehran had already communicated its “red lines” to countries in the region.
He stressed that Iran had not targeted regional countries themselves, but had struck US military bases located on their territory. According to Fadavi, Tehran considers American military installations in regional countries to be equivalent to US territory.
“We have declared our red line to the countries of the region,” Fadavi said. “Any point from which an action against Iran originates will be targeted.”
The IRGC commander’s adviser said several southern Persian Gulf states host a large number of US military bases. If attacks against Iran were launched from those territories, he said, Iran would respond by targeting the US facilities involved.
“That is why the Americans do not dare to have even a single vessel in the region,” Fadavi said.
Fadavi also claimed that Iran has maintained control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz over the past several months, amid heightened tensions involving the United States and Iran.
He said the United States had maintained a military presence in the Persian Gulf since 1853 but claimed that, for the first time, no American vessel was currently present in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman or even the northern Indian Ocean.
“The Americans have fled and moved more than 1,000 kilometers away from our borders,” Fadavi said, attributing the alleged withdrawal to what he described as the military capabilities of Iran and the IRGC Navy.
His remarks come against the backdrop of continuing tensions between Tehran and Washington and underline Iran’s warning that US military facilities and assets in the region could become targets if used in operations against the Islamic Republic.
Source: TNA
