(Picture: Getty)
Iran has issued a stark warning to Britain, France and the US – if they step in to defend Israel, they will be treated as enemies.
Military bases in the Middle East would be targeted, while the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea will be turned into war zones with naval vessels attacked.
Iranian media reported that the governments of all three nations have been notified, adding that ‘any country that participates in repelling Iran’s attacks on Israel will be subject to the targeting of regional bases of the complicit government’.
Jason Pack, fellow at Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and host of the Disorder Podcast, stressed that if a ‘conventional’ response from Iran does not work, then ‘asymmetrical terrorist attacks’ will follow.
He told Metro: ‘What you are most likely to see is that Iranian conventional response does not work and they will have to go to asymmetrical terrorist attacks on Israeli embassies in Europe, or plant bombs at synagogues in Europe.
‘Obviously that is very unfortunate as that’s not attacking Israel directly and it is punishing the wrong people.
‘But Iran may have to succumb to that because they are not able to directly attack their target.’
While the UK has confirmed it will not be participating in defending Israel, there is already a precedent for launching strikes on Iran’s proxies.
In April when the RAF used Typhoon jets to strike Houthi drone production sites in Yemen.
Britain boast multiple air bases in Qatar, Oman, Cyprus, Bahrain and the UAE.
RAF jets are stationed in Cyprus, as well as transport, air-to-air refuelling and reconnaissance aircraft.
Four mine-counter measure vessels and one Type 23 frigate are based in Bahrain.
Before Israel’s attack, Iran threatened to strike US bases in the Middle East – it has now repeated that warning.
If regional Arab allies help Israel – or if Iran believes they did so – they might become targets too.
Pack said that the Middle East is now entering what he described as a ‘war of enduring disorder’.
Deliberating on how the lines between allies and enemies will be redrawn, he said: ‘The Sunni Arab Gulf States [Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the UAE] are going to not be involved – or they will help Israel.
‘We saw Jordan shooting down Iranian drones towards Israel. It has not been publicized much but the Jordanians did it.
‘It is possible that the Saudis or the Gulfies will work with Israel to intercept other missiles.’
As a result, Iran may seek the help of its regional allies – Yemen’s Houthis, the Lebanese Hezbollah, and groups in Iraq and Syria – but none have the capabilities to fully repel Israeli strikes.
Pack added: ‘The Iranians would love to see their proxies, Hezbollah and the Houthis and Hamas do stuff, but they are not really that capable.
‘I think that the Houthis will launch more missiles, but that capacity has been diminished over time.’
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