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 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.