Iran’s military has warned it could block major maritime trade routes, including the Red Sea, if the United States continues its naval blockade on Iranian ports.
In a statement carried by state television, Ali Abdollahi, the current head of Iran’s central military command centre, asserted that continued U.S. actions against Iranian commercial vessels and oil tankers would escalate the situation and could undermine the existing ceasefire:
The powerful armed forces of the Islamic republic will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and the Red Sea.
Abdollahi added that Iran would “act decisively to defend its national sovereignty and its interests.”
The warning follows the imposition of a U.S. naval blockade earlier this week, after talks between Washington and Tehran in Pakistan failed to produce an agreement to end the conflict.
Despite the blockade, maritime tracking data indicated that several ships departing from Iranian ports had crossed the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian media also reported that commercial shipping activity had continued, with vessels sailing from southern ports to international destinations over the past 24 hours.
