IRGC Navy head: Iran has full control of Gulf and Strait of Hormuz
Following Iranian threats to block the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route, in retaliation for any hostile US action, head of the Revolutionary Guards navy says the Islamic Republic now fully controls the passage.
The remarks come at a time when Tehran has suggested that it could take military action in the Gulf to block oil exports of other regional countries in retaliation for US sanctions intended to halt its oil sales. Washington maintains a fleet in the Gulf which protects oil shipping routes.
Tangsiri said Iran had full control of both the Gulf itself and the Strait of Hormuz that leads into it. Closing off the strait would be the most direct way of blocking shipping.
"We can ensure the security of the Persian Gulf and there is no need for the presence of aliens like the U.S. and the countries whose home is not in here," he said in the quote, which appeared in English translation on Tasnim.
Tension between Iran and the United States has escalated since US President Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May.
Senior US officials have said they aim to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the most senior authority in the Islamic Republic, said last month that he supports the idea that if Iran is not allowed to export oil then no country should export oil from the Gulf
