Iran has warned that hotels in the Gulf would be targeted if they sheltered US soldiers who have been forced into hiding after several American military bases were struck in the Middle East, AFP reported. Specifically, the ultimatum has gone out to hotel owners in Bahrain and the UAE. Iran’s threat comes on the back of at least 13 US military bases being rendered largely unusable due to strikes. It has forced American troops to abandon the bases for hotels across the region.
“When all the Americans (forces) go into a hotel, then from our perspective that hotel becomes American,” Iran’s military spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi told state television, AFP reported. “Should we just stand by and let the Americans strike us? When we respond, naturally, we have to strike wherever they are,” he further said. This essentially makes the American soldiers sitting ducks.
IRAN’S WARNING TO GULF HOTELS
The warning from the Iranian military comes a day after Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi urged hotels in Gulf countries against accepting US military personnel. He claimed that US soldiers were using civilians in Gulf countries as “human shields”.
“From the outset of this war, US soldiers fled military bases in the GCC to hide in hotels and offices,” Araghchi tweeted.
The war, which started a month ago after US-Israeli strikes pounded Iran and killed its Supreme Leader, has now ensnared the whole Middle East. Iran has retaliated by targeting US military sites and Gulf energy infrastructure in the region.
A report in the New York Times said at least 13 US military bases across Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia were hit and severely degraded. The lethal Iranian strike on Port Shuaiba in Kuwait destroyed a tactical operations centre, killing six US members.
In fact, an analysis by the BBC has revealed that attacks on the US bases caused damage worth $800 million (Rs 7,500 crore) in the first two weeks of the conflict.
It has prompted thousands of US troops to take shelter in hotels in the Middle East, exposing vulnerabilities in the US’s planning. Some have been moved as far as Europe.
Against this backdrop, Iran has sent “firm warnings” to hotels in the region, AFP reported. The military has also reportedly identified locations sheltering US troops in Syria, Lebanon and Djibouti.
Separately, the powerful IRGC, which functions independently, has urged civilians in the Gulf to report the locations of these American military personnel. The IRGC, which reports directly to the Supreme Leader, has called on the civilians to secretly share intelligence with it on troop locations via messaging platforms.
