In this photo, an Iranian woman is seen walking past a mural of Iran’s slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Sept 23. (AFP Photo)
Saudi Civil Defense on Sept. 24 issued a brief series of alerts including one for Mecca city, as an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned that Tehran may expand the Middle East war to the Indian Ocean if the U.S. attacks again.
“A warning has been issued by the National Early Warning Platform in Mecca City to alert of a potential danger,” it said, with separate warnings for the Red Sea governorate of Yanbu as well as the Taif, Jeddah and Tabuk regions.
The alerts were lifted a few minutes later. In recent weeks, alerts have often preceded attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis.
Last week, Riyadh accused the group of targeting Mecca for the first time since 2017 with a drone that was downed, an accusation the Houthis have denied.
A few days later, the group attacked the Saudi capital Riyadh for the first time in years, marking a new escalation in the conflict.
Meanwhile, the adviser to Khamenei warned that Tehran may expand the Middle East war to the Indian Ocean if the United States attacks again, Iranian media reported.
“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,” said Yahya Rahim Safavi in a video released by Iran’s Fars news agency.
Yemen’s Houthis, fighting Saudi-backed government forces, recently took control of the Red Sea coastline, tightening their grip on the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, which links Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal.
Iran has long provided military support to the Houthis but denies any involvement in the Yemen conflict.
The Islamic republic has also locked down the Strait of Hormuz off the Iranian coast, in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes that triggered the Middle East war at the end of February.
Iran and the United States are now vying for control of Hormuz, through which much of the world’s oil and gas passed before the war.
