Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, senior military advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, warned on Thursday that a possible new war with the US could spread to the Indian Ocean if Iran comes under renewed attack.
He said Iran's armed forces had readied contingency plans for the worst-case scenarios, according to Fars News Agency.
"We do not know what is going on in the minds of (US President Donald) Trump and (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu," Safavi said.
He warned that further US or Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities or interests would sharply widen the war's geographic scope.
“Now that the war has spread from the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea, it is possible that, in the next stage of a potential war with the US, this front could expand further, to the Indian Ocean or elsewhere,” he said.
Separately, all flights operated by Iranian airlines to the United Arab Emirates were cancelled from midnight on Thursday, state media reported.
The Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) cited a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Organisation confirming the suspension of flights.
A Tehran-Dushanbe flight was forced to turn back on Thursday after Turkmenistan refused to grant Iranian airlines passage through its airspace.
The flight returned to Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran.
