Iran's top military commander warned on Saturday that Iran will never allow United States military vessels to enter the Persian Gulf, as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed that two supertankers carrying more than 4.5 million barrels of crude oil between them had struck naval mines near the Strait of Hormuz.
Major General Ali Abdollahi, Chief of the General Staff of Iran's Armed Forces, said Iranian forces had rendered the United States Navy ineffective in the region. "We will under no circumstances and at no time allow US military vessels to enter the Persian Gulf," Abdollahi said. "The US president must only dream of their military and army entering the Persian Gulf again. They will take this wish to their graves."
The Revolutionary Guard said on Saturday that Iran maintains full control over the Strait of Hormuz and that security is being maintained for vessels operating in the region in accordance with Iranian regulations. Its navy said the two supertankers struck the mines while attempting to navigate a southern route through the waterway that Tehran describes as unauthorised. In its statement on Friday, the Guard said the two tankers had been abandoned at sea after hitting the mines, their engine rooms disabled by an explosion and a fire.
The Guard's claims could not be independently verified, and there was no confirmation of two mined supertankers from the United States or from independent shipping monitors in the reporting on Saturday. United States and allied maritime monitors have said there was "no substantiation" for earlier, identical Iranian mine claims in the strait, and no vessel name, flag or shipping record has been produced for these two tankers either. President Donald Trump has previously accused Iran of making up ship hits and mines in the strait to drive up oil prices.
Abdollahi's warning came as Washington's rhetoric over possible military intervention escalated, and after the United States ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, said Washington could absolutely strike Iran as soon as this weekend. The Iranian commander challenged American assertions that Iran's military capabilities have been significantly weakened, and he questioned the president's repeated claims that Iran's nuclear facilities were destroyed. "If you have destroyed everything, then what is the meaning of repeating this delusion?" Abdollahi said, alleging that such statements are intended to mislead public opinion.
Iranian forces have restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz since the war with the United States began on February 28. Washington has answered with a counterblockade targeting Iranian ports and vessels. Tehran requires ships to obtain its permission to transit the strait and has repeatedly targeted vessels attempting to pass along the southern route near Oman. Before the conflict, about one fifth of the world's oil and gas supplies passed through the strait.
The strait remains the point where the war is most easily reignited: Iran says no American warship will enter the Gulf at any time and under any circumstances, while the United States insists the waterway stays open and its navy can go where international law allows.
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