"Iran considers crossing the red lines in Lebanon and Gaza to mean direct war," state TV quoted the Guards' intelligence organisation as saying.

It added: "In return, it is determined to carry out defensive operations by taking meaningful actions and opening new fronts, in addition to preserving the Strait of Hormuz equation."

On Monday evening, Mohsen Rezaee, a military adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, posted on X that "the escalation of tensions in Lebanon will not be tolerated".

"The patience of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran has a limit," he added.

The Tasnim news agency earlier reported that Iran and its allies would "activate other fronts, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait" at the entrance of the Red Sea, in response to Israel's military actions in Lebanon.

Iran's Yemeni ally, the Houthis, have previously attacked shipping in the strait and nearby waters, forcing ships to take long detours around Africa rather than sail through the Red Sea and Suez Canal.

The Red Sea is also home to the Saudi port of Yanbu, through which Riyadh has been able to export millions of barrels of oil, bypassing Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf.

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