WASHINGTON 13 Jul (ANA) - Iran could unleash a “new wave of terror attacks” on the West as the tanker row escalates in the Gulf, a US General has warned.

US General James T. Conway, who led the US Marines Corps during the Iraq War, said Iran could rally its regional proxy groups to carry out strikes.

Tensions have reach breaking point after Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard tried to take control of a British oil tanker on Wednesday.

This aggressive move is believed to have been in retaliation for Britain’s seizure of an Iranian oil tanker in Gibraltar on July 4.

Despite the heightening tanker row, General Conway believe there is “little chance” of a full-scale war between the US and Iran.

He instead believes Iran’s proxy terrorist groups pose the biggest threat.

“The Iranian regime has been at war with the Iranian people, the international community – through proxies with the US - for the past 40 years,” he told the Daily Star Online.

“My immediate concern is just that - a new wave of Iranian-supported terrorist attacks on civilians and an attempt to disrupt global oil supply.

“But one has to realise that the ayatollahs are weak and these are acts of desperation.”(ANA)

FA/ANA/13 July 2019------