We will set the region's oil and gas on fire: Iran warns US and Israel

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has warned it will target energy infrastructure across the Middle East if Iran’s own oil and gas facilities come under attack during the ongoing war involving the United States and Israel.

In a statement carried by Iranian state media, a spokesperson for the military’s central operational command, the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said even a limited strike on Iran’s energy sites or ports would trigger a severe response.

“We warn the aggressor government and all its allies that the slightest attack on the energy infrastructure and ports of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be met with a crushing and devastating response from us,” the spokesperson said.

The official warned that retaliation would not be limited to Iran’s territory.

“In the event of such aggression, all the region’s oil and gas infrastructure in which the United States and its Western allies have a vested interest will be set on fire and destroyed,” the statement said.

The warning comes as tensions continue to rise between Iran, the United States and Israel amid an expanding conflict that has already seen extensive military strikes.

According to US Central Command, American forces have struck more than 5,500 targets inside Iran since the war began, including attacks on more than 60 vessels.

LARIJANI WARNS OF WIDER REGIONAL DISRUPTION

Senior Iranian officials have also issued additional warnings about the potential consequences of further escalation.

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme Security Council, said attacks on Iran’s power infrastructure could trigger widespread disruption across the region. “If they do that, the whole region will go dark in less than half an hour and darkness provides ample opportunity to hunt down US servicemen running for safety,” Larijani said in a post on X on Thursday.

“While starting a war is easy, it cannot be won with a few tweets. We will not relent until making you sorry for this grave miscalculation,” he added.

The comments came a day after US President Donald Trump said American forces had largely neutralised Iran’s military capabilities in the US-Israel war that began on February 28. “They’ve got no navy, they’ve got no air force, they’ve got no anti-aircraft We’re just riding free range over that country,” Trump told reporters in Maryland.

IRAN'S LEADERSHIP CALLS FOR UNITY

Larijani’s remarks followed a statement by Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who called for national unity as the conflict intensifies.

He also said the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world’s most critical shipping routes — would remain closed to pressure Iran’s adversaries.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said Tehran’s objective is to ensure such a conflict is not imposed on the country again.

“We want to see that war is not going to be imposed again on Iran,” Takht-Ravanchi said in an interview with AFP in Tehran. He said hostilities had resumed months after a previous pause in fighting.

“When the war started last June, after 12 days there was so-called cessation of hostilities, but after eight or nine months they regrouped and they did it again,” he said, referring to the United States and Israel.

“Before the war started, on different occasions, we informed our neighbours that if America is engaged in aggression against Iran, all the US assets and all the US bases are legitimate targets for Iran,” he said.

The current conflict erupted on February 28 when Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and triggered a broader regional confrontation.

- Ends

With inputs from agencies

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