Iran Threatens Gulf Airports, Pipelines If US and Israel Resume Strikes

Iran has threatened to attack airports, pipelines, and other civilian infrastructure across neighboring Gulf countries if the U.S. and Israel renew their air campaign.

Iranian officials told mediators that another U.S. attack would trigger a broader assault on Gulf economies, according to people familiar with the communications who spoke to The Wall Street Journal.

Tehran has also threatened more lethal attacks on American forces, including attempts to sink U.S. warships and kill their crews, the people said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in the Financial Times that renewed attacks “will put civilian lives and the well-being of all regional states and the global economy at great risk.”

Civilian Infrastructure in Scope

Brigadier General Yadollah Javani, the Revolutionary Guard’s deputy commander for political affairs, said Wednesday that Iran could cut submarine internet cables passing beneath the Strait of Hormuz.

Energy installations and transport hubs have already sustained damage during the war.

Iranian attacks hit industrial and energy sites in the United Arab Emirates, a major Qatari gas facility and airports in Dubai, Kuwait and Bahrain.

American air bases, embassies and the U.S. 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain were also damaged during the conflict’s opening phase.

A further round would come as U.S. and Arab forces face declining reserves of defensive interceptors. Israel’s supplies have also come under strain.

“The consensus in Tehran now believes that deterrence requires imposing immediate, sustained and substantial costs on its adversaries,” said Sina Toossi, an Iran specialist at the Center for International Policy.

Washington Reinforces and Relocates

President Donald Trump has raised the prospect of attacking Iran after the November 3 midterm elections.

With negotiations stalled for months, U.S. and Israeli military planners have been drawing up strike options.

A third U.S. carrier strike group and another Marine expeditionary unit are heading toward the Middle East.

Gulf governments view the military buildup and diplomatic deadlock as signs that fighting could intensify.

Washington has also reduced the exposure of some personnel.

The military has relocated troops from regional bases, while the State Department ordered nonessential government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia following Houthi threats.

Families attached to some other regional embassies have also been moved, a U.S. official said.

Missile Stocks and Retaliation Risks

Iran’s capacity to sustain another prolonged exchange remains uncertain.

Analysts put its remaining ballistic missile inventory at hundreds to thousands, while U.S. and regional officials believe underground facilities have restarted limited production using stored components.

That assessment sits alongside extensive damage to Iran’s weapons infrastructure.

The Pentagon said in September that American attacks had destroyed as much as 90% of its drone, ballistic missile and naval industrial base.

Saeid Golkar, a Revolutionary Guard specialist at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, said Tehran would need to ration its depleted missile stocks.

Farzin Nadimi of the Washington Institute warned that attacks on regional energy and internet infrastructure could bring reciprocal strikes against Iran’s own assets.

Recent operations nevertheless suggest Tehran retains the means to inflict damage.

Three U.S. service members died in a July missile attack on Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, and Iranian missiles approached American warships during September attacks.

Iran has also increased attacks on shipping in the Persian Gulf area since the start of the month.

Two vessels sank after being struck last week.