Iran Warns US and Israel Against Crossing ‘Red Lines’ in Persian Gulf

In the face of increasing provocations from the US and Israel, Iran is warning the two countries against going further, particularly in the Persian Gulf.

“Everyone knows what the Persian Gulf signifies for Iran,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday. “Everyone knows very well how high the risk is raised if the red lines of Iran are crossed.”

Khatibzadeh’s comments come after the US announced last week that one of its submarines steamed through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway near Iran’s coast between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

The US provocation was followed by a report that said Israel sailed a submarine through the Suez Canal that faced the Persian Gulf, a maneuver meant as a message to Iran.

Khatibzadeh also addressed a recent rocket attack on the US embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone. The US accused Iran of being behind the attack, which Khatibzadeh dismissed as “baseless, and fabricated allegations.”

“I said last week that in our view, attacks on diplomatic and residential premises are completely unacceptable,” he said, according to Iran’s Fars News Agency.

Tensions have been simmering in the region since a report from The New York Times in November said President Trump reviewed options to attack an Iranian nuclear site. Iran responded to the news by preaching caution to its allies in the region, while Israel took the news as a signal to step up provocations.

Khatibzadeh said Iran sent a message to the US, warning the Trump administration against provoking a military conflict in its final days. “We have heard about some mischief and sent a message to the US and friends in the region that the US administration should not embark on a new adventure in the last days of its life in the White House,” he said.