Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran, the most senior authority in the Islamic Republic, asserted that if Iran is not allowed to export oil then no country should export oil from the Gulf. This was in response to unilateral US sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
Tehran is very clear that in order to protect itself it could take military action in the Gulf to block oil exports of other regional countries in retaliation to U.S. sanctions which intends to halt Iranian oil exports.
The US Navy maintains a fleet in the Gulf to protect and keeping open the oil shipping routes. Now Iran says that it has full control of the Gulf, and the U.S. Navy does not belong there. The head of the navy of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, General Alireza Tangsiri, made this statement recently.
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 President Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May and reimposed sanctions.
Senior U.S. officials have said they aim to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero. However India and China both are in total disagreement with this unilateral move of Trump. This is going to affect both the Indian and Chinese economy and therefore it is clear that they cannot permit such actions by USA.
