A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said on Wednesday that Guards and regular Iranian military forces had complete control of Gulf waters north of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
“Everything north of the Strait of Hormuz is under our control,” Ali Fadavi was quoted by Fars as saying, referring to the strait at the Gulf’s eastern end through which about a fifth of the oil that is consumed globally flows.
“(Movements of) American battleships in the region are under the complete control of Iran’s army and the Revolutionary Guards,” Fadavi told Fars, without providing details.
Tensions between Iran and the US sparked following US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the 2015 nuclear deal, in May 2018.
Recently Washington ramped up pressure on Tehran, designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization and deploying a carrier strike group and a bomber task force with nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to the Middle East.
In a most recent move, the US announced that it is considering the deployment of about 10,000 additional troops to the Middle East.
Tehran reciprocated with designating the US Central Command (CENTCOM) as terrorists, and announcing that it will suspend some of its voluntary obligations under the JCPOA.
Source: Agenceis
