Tehran: An adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has warned that Tehran may expand the Middle East war to the Indian Ocean if the US or Israel attacks Iran again.

Yahya Rahim Safavi, a senior adviser to the supreme commander of Iran's armed forces, said in a video released by Iran's Fars news agency that the battlefield could widen further if hostilities escalate. "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 said. He added that the connection between the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb would change the theatre of war, warning that "a new front centered on the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait may open up before their very eyes" if the US starts a new war.

This marks the first time an adviser to Iran's supreme leader has explicitly mentioned the Indian Ocean, home to a strategic US-British military base at Diego Garcia, nearly 4,000 kilometres from Iran. Iran has locked down the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes that triggered the war at the end of February, and is now vying with the US for control of the waterway.

Safavi said Iran's armed forces had prepared plans for worst-case scenarios. Meanwhile, Pakistani and Iranian foreign ministers met in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss developments following recent talks between Washington and Tehran. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country remains "absolutely determined" to make progress in de-escalating the conflict, describing Pakistan as "a sincere and honest mediator" between Iran and the United States.

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