Iran has warned that the conflict in the Middle East could spread further if the United States resumes airstrikes against Tehran, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington.
Iranian army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia said the region would face a wider conflict if Washington continued military operations against Iran.
“If the Americans once again fall for the Zionists’ deception, or move in line with them, and insist on continuing the war, particularly through air strikes, geographically this will expand further,” Akraminia told Iranian state television.
He said the conflict had already spread towards the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the entrance to the Red Sea following a military escalation involving Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia.
“The scope of our operations now encompasses the entire region, from US bases in Jordan to the countries along the Persian Gulf,” he said.
Akraminia described the situation facing the United States as difficult and unsettled, saying Washington appeared to be searching for a new strategy.
His comments came ahead of Netanyahu’s planned meeting with Trump at the White House on Tuesday.
The US military said its naval blockade against Iran remained in place but did not explain why it had halted a campaign of 13 consecutive nights of strikes.
Reports in the United States said Trump had decided to delay plans for a major escalation. The New York Times reported that concerns included the risk of expanding the war, depletion of US defence stockpiles, possible tensions with Gulf allies and the effect on energy supplies and the global economy.
A US official told CNN that Vice President JD Vance and General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had raised concerns about US munitions during a White House meeting on Friday.
“Operations are on a hold,” a Department of Defense source told the broadcaster.
The conflict has continued to spread despite the pause in US strikes. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had attacked facilities belonging to Saudi state oil company Aramco in Jizan and Yanbu.
Video verified by Reuters showed a large column of smoke rising near the Aramco refinery in Jizan, close to the Yemeni border. The refinery has the capacity to process up to 400,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
Iran also accused Ukraine of attacking an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, saying one sailor was killed and another injured. Tehran summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires to protest against what it called a “hostile and criminal” attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy separately said Kyiv had observed Russia providing Iran with satellite information related to the Middle East.
The latest developments have raised concerns that the conflict could affect another major shipping route and reignite fighting in Yemen, adding to disruption already caused around the Strait of Hormuz.
