IRGC Navy: Iran Closes Strait of Hormuz after US Retains Blockade in Violation of Ceasefire Conditions
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)’s Navy says Iran has closed down the Strait of Hormuz after the United States chose to retain its blockade of the Islamic Republic’s ports in violation of the conditions of a standing ceasefire.
In a statement on Saturday, the IRGC Navy noted how the Islamic Republic had decided to allow non-military vessels to transit through the strategic waterway along a certain corridor designated by Tehran after the ceasefire was announced.
“However, due to the violation of the ceasefire conditions, and as the American adversary has not lifted the naval blockade on Iranian vessels and ports, the Strait of Hormuz has been closed as of this evening until this blockade is removed,” the Corps said.
Accordingly, the IRGC warned that no vessel should make any movement from its anchorage in the Persian Gulf or the Sea of Oman to approach the strait, the statement added.
Warning to trespassing vessels
Such movement, it added, would be considered “cooperation with the enemy, and the violating vessel will be targeted.”
The statement, meanwhile, asserted that the IRGC’s Navy remains the only official authority as far as the affairs governing the waterway was concerned.
“Statements made by the terrorist US president regarding the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf have no validity.”
Iran shut down the chokehold to vessels belonging to adversaries and their allies following the launch of the United States’ and the Israeli regime’s latest bout of unprovoked aggression targeting the Islamic Republic on February 28.
On April 7, Donald Trump announced a two-week lull in attacks targeting Iran after the closure sent shockwaves throughout the global energy markets, with the US president experiencing momentous further drop in his popularity as a result of spiking gasoline prices.
He, however, authorized continuation of a naval blockade he had ordered against the Islamic Republic, besides making numerous controversial statements concerning the waterway, all of which have been categorically refuted by Iranian authorities.
Trump alleged that Iran had “agreed to never close the Strait of Hormuz again.” He also claimed that the United States’ “naval blockade will remain in full force and effect as it pertains to Iran, only, until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100% complete.” Trump additionally said that ceasefire negotiations “should go very quickly in that most of the points are already negotiated.”
On Friday, Iran’s Majlis (Parliament) Speaker, Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf robustly refuted the successive false claims, underlining, “Whether the strait remains open or closed, and the rules governing it, will be determined on the battlefield, not on social media.”