Iran threatens to burn down the club: "We must be careful not to underestimate their capabilities"

Iran is threatening extensive attacks on airports, energy facilities, undersea cables, and civilian infrastructure, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The warnings are being conveyed both publicly and through secret diplomatic channels, aimed at creating deterrence, but intelligence officials warn that the threat is real. In the opening stages of the war, Iran inflicted heavy damage on American air bases, embassies, and the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, as well as hitting energy and industrial facilities in the United Arab Emirates, a major gas plant in Qatar, and airports in Dubai, Kuwait, and Bahrain. Now Tehran warns that another round of fighting will exact a much more painful price, especially given the depletion of interceptor stocks for American, Arab, and Israeli air defense systems. In response, Washington is advancing a strike group including a third aircraft carrier and an additional Marine force to the Middle East. The US State Department has ordered non-essential government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, amid threats from Houthi rebels in Yemen, and has also reduced its presence at other embassies in the region.