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Security in the Gulf and the Sea of Oman will be enforced on a reciprocal basis, following the United States’ announcement of a naval blockade targeting Iran, the spokesperson for the Islamic Republic’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari, stated on April 13.
In a statement, Zolfaghari said that Iran considers the defense of its territorial waters a “natural and lawful duty,” stressing that the presence of foreign-aligned vessels in key maritime corridors will not be permitted.
“The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran explicitly and decisively declare that the security of ports in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is either for everyone or for no one,” the spokesperson said, warning that any threat to Iranian maritime security would result in broader regional consequences.
Zolfaghari affirmed that the Islamic Republic will continue to regulate passage through the Strait of Hormuz under a “permanent regime” implemented by its armed forces.
He also stated that vessels affiliated with adversaries “do not have and will not have the right to pass” through the strategic waterway, while other ships would be allowed transit under Iranian regulation.
“If the security of the ports of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is threatened, no port in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman will be safe,” Zolfaghari warned.
The statement came just a few hours before the blockade announced by the U.S. President Donald Trump after the failure of the talks with Iran in Pakistan came into effect.
Renewing threats to Iran, Trump claimed in a Truth Social post that the Islamic Republic’s naval forces have been “obliterated” and said that the U.S. has not hit “fast attack ships” because it did not deem them a threat.
“Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at sea,” Trump wrote.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported that it has been informed that “maritime access restrictions are being enforced affecting Iranian ports and coastal areas, including locations along the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and the Arabian Sea east of the Strait of Hormuz.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had welcomed the U.S. decision to blockade Iran, stating during a cabinet meeting on April 13 that the ceasefire with the Islamic Republic “could turn on a dime.”
Netanyahu said that U.S. Vice President JD Vance briefed him on his way back from talks with Iran in Pakistan. According to the primer, the Americans “could not tolerate Iran’s blatant violation of the agreement to enter negotiations. The agreement was that they would stop the fire, and the Iranians would immediately open the Strait [of Hormuz] — they did not do so. The Americans could not accept this.”
Additionally, Vance told Netanyahu that the central issue from the U.S. perspective was “removing all enriched material and ensuring that there will be no enrichment in the coming years — possibly for decades — no enrichment inside Iran. This is their focus, and of course it is also important to us.”
What Netanyahu said was not surprising. The Wall Street Journal reported just a day earlier that in addition to the blockade, Trump and his advisers are looking at resuming limited military strikes in Iran as a way to break a stalemate in peace talks.
The escalation by the U.S. could lead to the collapse of the ceasefire, set to end in little over a week. Iran will not likely fire the first shot, but it is guaranteed to respond to any American or Israeli attack.
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the american military industrial complex is just making things a lot more worse for “american” citizens, smh. 🤦
iran will be destroyed because putler and the alawites are traitorous pigs. before that disgusting atrocity in december 2024, israel would not have dared to do something like that. i wish death and destruction to all alawites and all russians. i hope someone will come and cause the death of all alawites and all russians, even the smallest babies.
you are obviously a severly disturbed clown, seek help…..
your time will come buddy.
pakistan, india, myanmar, indonesia, vietnam can offer their coastal waters for safe passage of chìnesè oil tankers.