Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday the Hormuz Strait would remain closed until the United States ends its “acts of aggression” while warning that other regional oil export routes could also become targets.
Fighting between the United States and Iran, which began late February, has hampered energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit route for oil and gas shipments from the Gulf.
The Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said they carried out attacks on US military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait following American strikes on Iranian territory, according to statements by Iranian state television IRIB.
“The enemy should know that now that its maritime raiders have blocked the Indian Ocean route for oil and gas exports to the world — thereby endangering the interests of America’s economic rivals — it should also expect the closure of other oil and gas export routes that serve the interests of the United States and its allies,” the statement said.
They did not elaborate on which routes could be affected.
“Oil and gas exports from the region will either be available for everyone or for no one,” they added.
In a separate statement, the Guards said: “The retaliatory operations of the fighters will continue, and the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States ends its acts of aggression.”
US officials have previously rejected Iranian assertions that Tehran can control navigation through the Strait and have insisted international shipping routes remain open.
US Trades Strikes With Iran Over Hormuz Strait
US forces struck Iran and reimposed a naval blockade on its ports as Tehran hit Washington’s Gulf allies on Wednesday, vowing the Strait of Hormuz would stay closed “until the US ends its aggression”.
The strikes came hours after US President Donald Trump backed down on his planned 20 per cent levy on ships using the strait, which is at the centre of a flare-up in a war that has rattled the Middle East and pushed up global energy prices.
Tehran insists it controls the key oil shipping corridor, which was open to free navigation before the US-Israeli attacks in late February sparked the conflict.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the renewed US blockade had cut off oil and gas exports to the world, including “America’s economic rivals”, and warned that routes serving US and allied interests could also be shut.
“Oil and gas exports from the region will either be available for everyone or for no one,” the Guards said, without elaborating.
Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the US decision to restore the blockade “has, in a way, dismantled the Islamabad memorandum”, referring to the interim deal reached last month to halt hostilities and pursue peace talks.
In a flare-up that entered the fifth day, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it struck dozens of Iranian military targets near the strait and elsewhere along the country’s coast to “degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian crews”.
Iranian state media reported explosions near the port city of Bandar Abbas, on the island of Qeshm, and on Bandar Imam Khomeini.
Soon after the strikes, sirens rang out in Bahrain, while Kuwait and Jordan reported intercepting drones and missiles fired from Iran.
State news agency IRNA reported that Iranian forces launched a drone attack on a military base in Jordan that hosts American warplanes, while the Guards had hit US facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait.
Trump warned he would widen the strikes next week to hit power plants and bridges if Tehran does not return to the negotiating table. “Next week it gets really bad for them,” he told Fox News.
– Trump Scraps Levy
Since the war began, Iran has asserted its control over the Strait of Hormuz and opened fire on ships for taking routes it says are unauthorised.
Tehran’s strikes on vessels in the strait have triggered retaliation from the United States, and the tit-for-tat violence has sent crude prices rising more than 10 percent since last week.
“The retaliatory operations of the fighters will continue, and the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States ends its acts of aggression,” the Guards said in a statement on Wednesday.
Admiral Brad Cooper, head of CENTCOM, said Tuesday that over the past week, “Iran has intentionally targeted civilians across the region by attacking seven commercial ships, resulting in nearly a dozen civilian crew members killed, missing, or injured.”
“US forces are holding Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression that continues to endanger innocent lives,” he added.
A Norwegian tanker was hit by an explosion caused by an unidentified device off the Omani coast early Tuesday, the crisis response company MTI Network said.
– Trump Scraps Levy
Since the war began, Iran has asserted its control over the Strait of Hormuz and opened fire on ships for taking routes it says are unauthorised.
Tehran’s strikes on vessels in the strait have triggered retaliation from the United States, and the tit-for-tat violence has sent crude prices rising more than 10 percent since last week.
“The retaliatory operations of the fighters will continue, and the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States ends its acts of aggression,” the Guards said in a statement on Wednesday.
Admiral Brad Cooper, head of CENTCOM, said Tuesday that over the past week, “Iran has intentionally targeted civilians across the region by attacking seven commercial ships, resulting in nearly a dozen civilian crew members killed, missing, or injured.”
“US forces are holding Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression that continues to endanger innocent lives,” he added.
A Norwegian tanker was hit by an explosion caused by an unidentified device off the Omani coast early Tuesday, the crisis response company MTI Network said.
