Iran threatens to strike US navy if blockade continues

Iran’s armed forces “will not stand idly by” and allow the naval blockade of Iran to continue, according to Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

The US naval blockade was reimposed last month after the collapse of a ceasefire agreed as part of a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran.

US Central Command said Monday that under the blockade it had redirected 44 commercial vessels, disabled two, and boarded two.

In an interview on Iranian state television, Rezaei also said Iran “will under no circumstances allow any route through the Strait of Hormuz other than Iran’s route to be opened.”

"If the United States brings warships into the illegal route in the Strait of Hormuz, we will target them", - said Mohsen Rezaei.

Rezaei accused Washington of violating the memorandum of understanding and launching attacks without first referring the issue to the dispute resolution committee.

The US resumed strikes on Iran early in July after Tehran attacked several ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz along a route it had not authorized.

Rezaei said the US should begin fulfilling conditions already agreed upon in the memorandum, which was signed in June.

“They should start by returning our funds, declaring they are not at war with Iran, and ceasing the creation of insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz. Allow us to assist global trade through our own arrangements, even better than before.”

When the US starts fulfilling its obligations “which they had briefly begun to implement for a few days as a preliminary step, we will view it as a change in behavior,” Rezaei added.