Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Iran’s all-powerful and de facto ruling establishment, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) has warned the US against escalation in the ongoing conflict and threatened to change the “geography of war”, the media reported on Tuesday.
It also warned of using “new weapons, tactics and targets” if the US escalates the conflict, started on February 28, 2026.
Meanwhile, the British military said an “unknown projectile” struck a tanker as it entered the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, injuring two crew members.
The Israeli military was put on high alert as much of the Jewish country shut down for Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, observed on September 20 and 21.
IRGC’s warning
Hossein Mohebbi, a spokesperson for Iran’s paramilitary force, said on Monday that “the war is not over” and warned that Tehran would change its weapons, military tactics and targets if the conflict with the US escalates.
“We will certainly change the geography of the war,” he said in a statement carried by Iranian state media. “We will certainly bring new weapons with new capabilities into the battle, he said, adding the IRGC has already prepared for a long-term war.
“Our targets will no longer necessarily be the same as before,” he said, according to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, adding that Iran has targets that have not yet been struck.
Aerial refuelling offered
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said London has agreed to provide limited military support to Saudi Arabia to repel attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The Houthis and Saudi Arabia have been trading fierce strikes as fighting between the rebels and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government reignited recently.
Burnham told reporters as he flew to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York that the Royal Air Force (RAF) will provide air-to-air refuelling facility to Saudi planes.
The agreement is for a matter of weeks, but Burnham said it will be reviewed further.
Hormuz: Projectile strikes tanker
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said a tanker was struck by an “unknown projectile” as it headed into the Strait of Hormuz. Two crew members were injured.
The agency said on Monday the vessel is reportedly continuing to its next port of call under its own power. No reports indicated any environmental impact at this time.
Some tankers are again traversing the vital waterway, but traffic is well below what it once was before February 28 when the US and Israel jointly started the war against Iran.
Houthis v/s/ Saudi Arabia
In Yemen, the leader of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels used the anniversary of his terror group’s overthrow of the Yemeni government to lash out at Saudi Arabia.
In a pre-recorded speech aired on Monday, Abdul Malik al-Houthi said his group’s demands include an end to what he called Saudi “aggression” and the blockade the Saudi-led coalition has imposed on the rebels for about a decade.
“Stop the aggression and end the blockade. Our demands represent the legitimate rights of our people,” he said in the speech aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah channel.
The Houthis descended from their stronghold in northern Yemen, taking over the capital of Sanaa in September 2014 and forcing the country’s government into exile in Saudi Arabia.
The next year, Saudi Arabia led a multi-national coalition force that entered the war to restore the government. The coalition imposed an air and sea blockade on the Houthi-held areas, as part of its war efforts.
Yemen: 164 killed, 130,000 displaced
UN agencies reported that hundreds of people have been killed and wounded and more than 130,000 were displaced by the renewed fighting in Yemen.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday in a post on X that 164 people were killed and 516 injured between September 13 and September 18, bringing the toll since August 6 to 674 deaths and 2,998 injuries.
The International Organisation for Migration said the fighting has so far displaced 129,438 people across seven provinces, and some people have already been forced to flee multiple times.
Israel: On guard for Yom Kippur
Israel’s military remained on alert even as the Jewish country woke up to the silence and empty streets on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, considered the holiest day for their faith, on September 20 and 21.
Streetlights blinked yellow on Monday as the faithful walked to the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City for prayers.
“For the next 25 hours, Israel is offline,” the foreign ministry said on X after sundown on Sunday. But the military said it bolstered its frontline forces following the killing of an Israeli settler on Sunday in the occupied West Bank. A Palestinian suspect was detained after a search.