Iran has considered attacking US military targets in Europe if President Donald Trump escalates the war, according to two people close to the regime.
According to the Financial Times, Iranian forces have assessed possible strikes on US assets in southeastern Europe, including Bulgaria, which last month approved the use of its Bezmer air base for American refueling aircraft.
Cyprus is also being looked at as a possible target after a British air base there was hit by a drone in March. In addition to all that, Iran has separately examined the possibility of attacking subsea fiber-optic cables in the Strait of Hormuz if the conflict gets worse.
Talks over reopening the Strait of Hormuz have stalled. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei also promoted hardliners to senior security and military positions last week. Trump said Tuesday that there were “no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled” with Tehran.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian military commanders have warned that another full-scale conflict would push Iran beyond its earlier strategy of targeting US military positions, energy facilities and other infrastructure in the Middle East.
The Guards threatened the UK last month over Washington’s use of British military bases, saying that “any base that is used to launch an attack on Iranian territory will be considered a legitimate target”.
Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow at London’s Royal United Services Institute, said the missile threat Iran poses to targets in Europe and elsewhere is “real, but limited”. Tehran could use medium-range ballistic missiles, including its Shahab series, against US assets in southern and southeastern Europe, although Sidharth said the missiles would have difficulty causing significant damage at longer distances.
How far Iran goes would depend on what Washington does next. One regime insider said Tehran is preparing plans to widen the conflict if Trump follows through on earlier threats to hit Iranian infrastructure. Trump said last month that the US would destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant every time Iran targeted a ship in the strait.
Another insider said Iran would put “no limits” on its response if the US attacked. “Should the US go too far, Iran will defend itself at any price, go beyond the region and hit Europe too,” the person said.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin is showing another sign that some large investors may be positioning for a bottom after months of weak trading.
The slump from hell has pushed retail traders out of the market, drained billions of dollars from crypto funds and even turned one of Bitcoin’s biggest buyers into a seller. Now, whales are buying again.
Large holders have accumulated about 43,000 Bitcoin over the past 60 days, worth around $2.75 billion at current prices, according to CryptoQuant. Its calculation excludes exchanges and mining pools.
The group began buying again after months of selling when Bitcoin started trading around $60,000, while balances held by smaller large investors known as dolphins have also increased.
Glassnode data shows the buying extends across several large-holder groups. Investors holding between 100 and 1,000 Bitcoin have been accumulating, while so-called humpbacks, holders with more than 10,000 coins, have also been buying.
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