Iran's Security Chief Threatens Gulf Oil Routes That Bypass Hormuz as a Cyberattack on a British Plant Is Reported

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Iran would target oil shipping routes out of the Persian Gulf that serve as alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz if neighbouring states join American economic measures against Tehran. Countries that do so would be considered enemies, and "we will target their interests," he said in remarks reported by The Hindu. Rezaei described a sequence that begins with negotiation and persuasion and ends in action only if governments continue to side with Washington, according to Al Jazeera's account of the same interview.

The threat is aimed at the workarounds themselves. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates built cross-country pipelines to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Oman precisely to move barrels without passing Hormuz.

Separately, the Israeli outlet Ynet, citing The Telegraph, reported that hackers linked to Iran shut down a small British power plant for four days last month, an incident that drew little public attention. A British government spokesperson said the country maintains strict security standards and that no danger arose to the wider energy system. Iran has not claimed the operation.

The Financial Times reported in parallel that Iranian attacks exposed the vulnerability of the American military footprint across the Gulf, raising the question of whether Washington should rebuild bases it has held since the 1990s.