Iran has added a new threat to the rapidly widening crisis, warning that another U.S. attack could put the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and even Tehran’s nuclear doctrine on the table.
Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said Wednesday that if the United States attacks Iran again, Tehran could respond with “all its might” and consider options that go beyond the Strait of Hormuz. The remarks were reported by WANA and separately by Xinhua through China.org.cn.
Rezaei said those options could include closing Bab al-Mandab in addition to Hormuz, withdrawing from the NPT, and reviewing Iran’s nuclear doctrine if Tehran concludes that it faces an existential threat. The comments were conditional, and they do not mean Iran has taken those steps. But they mark a sharper public escalation because Bab al-Mandab sits at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, far from Hormuz, and is another major artery for global shipping.
Why This Is A New Escalation
Until now, the immediate crisis has centered on the Strait of Hormuz, where the U.S. says Iranian forces attacked commercial vessels before American forces struck more than 80 Iranian targets. U.S. Central Command said those targets included Revolutionary Guard boats, air defense systems, coastal radar sites, and anti-ship missile capabilities.
The new threat widens the map. Hormuz is the chokepoint for Persian Gulf oil and gas exports. Bab al-Mandab links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. If both routes become part of the same confrontation, the risk is not just another military exchange. It is a broader maritime crisis stretching from the Gulf to the Red Sea.
Xinhua reported that Rezaei made the remarks in an interview with the semi-official Fars news agency. He said Iran could use the capabilities of the “axis of resistance” against U.S. assets, personnel, equipment, facilities, and bases across the region. WANA reported the same core warning and said Rezaei also pointed to a ready parliamentary bill related to leaving the NPT.
Nuclear Stakes Return To The Foreground
The NPT reference matters because Iran’s nuclear file had already been pushed into uncertainty by the collapse of the latest diplomatic track. The memorandum of understanding signed in June was supposed to create a 60-day window for negotiations over a broader peace deal, including Iran’s nuclear program and the status of Hormuz. That window now looks badly damaged.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he considers the memorandum effectively “over” after the latest strikes, according to CBS News and other outlets covering his remarks from the NATO summit in Turkey. Al Jazeera reported that Tehran, meanwhile, accused Washington of violating the same memorandum through new strikes, oil-sanctions measures, and what Iran says is U.S. interference with its claimed role in managing Hormuz traffic.
That dispute is why Rezaei’s nuclear-doctrine warning lands differently from another routine threat. Iran is not merely saying it will fire back militarily. A senior parliamentary security figure is saying Tehran could reconsider the legal and doctrinal limits around its nuclear posture if it believes the U.S. is escalating toward a larger war.
Regional Risk Is Spreading
The latest exchange has already pulled Gulf states deeper into the crisis. The U.S. said its strikes followed attacks on three commercial vessels in Hormuz. Iran then said it struck U.S. military targets in Bahrain and Kuwait. Gulf News reported that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and the UAE condemned the latest attacks and warned about threats to regional security and global energy supplies.
Reuters, carried by Baird Maritime and energy outlets, reported that the renewed fighting pushed oil prices sharply higher and raised fresh doubts about the June memorandum. The same Reuters analysis warned that chronic instability through Hormuz could leave Gulf oil and gas producers facing unpredictable export flows even if neither side wants a return to full-scale war.
For now, the key point is what has changed: Iran’s warning is no longer limited to Hormuz shipping rules or retaliation against U.S. bases. It now includes another global chokepoint and the nuclear treaty framework itself.
That does not guarantee Tehran will follow through. It does mean the crisis has acquired a more dangerous set of bargaining chips at exactly the moment Washington and Tehran are accusing each other of destroying the deal that was supposed to contain it.
Sources: WANA, Xinhua via China.org.cn, CBS News, Al Jazeera, Reuters via Baird Maritime.