Iran minister warns Saudi Arabia...proxy fight over, real fight coming up?

via Reuters

Iran will hit back at most of Saudi Arabia with the exception of Islam's holiest places if the kingdom does anything "ignorant", Tehran's defense minister was quoted as saying on Sunday after a Saudi prince threatened to move the "battle" to Iran.

"If the Saudis do anything ignorant, we will leave no area untouched except Mecca and Medina," Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan was quoted by the semi-official Tasnim news agency as saying.

"They think they can do something because they have an air force," he added in an apparent reference to Yemen, where Saudi warplanes regularly attack Iran-aligned Houthi forces in control of the capital Sanaa.

Dehghan, speaking to Arabic-language Al-Manar TV, was commenting on remarks by Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who said on Tuesday any contest for influence between the Sunni Muslim kingdom and the revolutionary Shi'ite theocracy ought to take place "inside Iran, not in Saudi Arabia".

Saudi Arabia and Iran compete for influence in the Middle East and support rival groups in Syria's civil war. Iran denies Saudi accusations that it sends financial and sometimes armed support to groups hostile to Riyadh around the Arab world.

In unusually blunt comments in a nationally-televised interview on Tuesday, Prince Mohammed ruled out any dialogue with Iran and pledged to protect his conservative kingdom from what he called Tehran's efforts to dominate the Muslim world.

Ok.  This is getting good!  Pass my Coors Light and the popcorn!

Iran and Saudi Arabia seem to be moving past the proxy fight and onto the real thing.  What I find fascinating is that this is end of A section news.

What I also find interesting is that Iran has all but admitted that they are inferior to Saudi Arabia in the air so why do they think they can win?  My guess is that they're looking at the Russian Little Green Men style of warfare.

I'll be watching for "terrorist" attacks in Saudi Arabia conducted by the Quds Force (in disguise of course) and for the Saudi's to scream about the sudden influx of Iranian ultranationalist.

Another area where Iran might try and flex its muscle is on the sea.  Saudi Arabia has a much more formidable force than the Iranians but the Persians are plucky.  They'll zoom speed boats all around Saudi Capital Ships and we might get an accidental fight.

Yep.

This could kick off before anyone, including the participants, expect.