Iran threatens to attack US warships across Indian Ocean if war resumes

Iran has warned that American warships anywhere in the Indian Ocean would come under attack should the war restart, saying it has built up the means to fight a naval campaign. "If war begins again, US ships, unless they leave the Indian Ocean, will be attacked wherever they are inside the Indian Ocean. We have developed these capabilities," said Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, in remarks posted by the Iranian Embassy in Hyderabad. Rezaei said the speed of Iran's hypersonic missiles had been pushed up "from Mach 6 to Mach 10", and that work had gone into other parts of the arsenal as well. "We have also developed our electronic warfare systems, improved our air defenses, and we have other measures that we will use at the appropriate time," he said. Tehran, he added, was "fully prepared" for what may come. "If America starts the war, we will confront America with greater force and with more numerous and more painful strikes," he said. The warning followed comments on Sunday by the Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who said the "old American order" in West Asia had "collapsed" and urged Islamic countries in the region to build something new in its place. According to Tasnim News, Ghalibaf said Iran's terms had been passed to Washington in plain language through intermediaries, and that the Strait of Hormuz would stay shut until Iranian rights were recognised and the United States honoured its commitments. He also pointed to what he called two strategic blunders by Washington: pushing for war without any plan or timeline for ending it, and misreading how much Iran could withstand. In Washington, Fox News reported that President Donald Trump is in "deciding mode" over Iran, telling the network's Trey Yingst that "big things will be happening in the not-so-distant future". "Iranians better behave, and he (Trump) is making this decision as to whether or not to blow up their nation," Yingst said, relaying the president's remarks. Trump set out three options: "wiping Iran out", "letting them rot economically" or "making a deal". He also said he remained "open" to sitting down with Iran's president. The United States and Israel struck Iran on 28 February. A ceasefire framework between Washington and Tehran followed in June, but it came apart within weeks, and the two sides have traded fire ever since, with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz the sharpest point of disagreement. Fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen has also picked up since a fragile 2022 truce broke down in July. Stay informed on all the latest news, real-time breaking news updates, and follow all the important headlines in india news and world news on Zee News.