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Iran Threatens Military Response if U.S. Intensifies Maritime Blockade, Warns Over Strait of Hormuz Oil Traffic Image: Fatima Shbair/ AP
🇲🇽 Mexico /Conflict & Security

Iran Threatens Military Response if U.S. Intensifies Maritime Blockade, Warns Over Strait of Hormuz Oil Traffic

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohamad Baqer Qalibaf warned that Iran would respond militarily if the United States intensified its blockade of Iranian ships and ports.
  • He said Iran would prevent oil tankers from using a southern route near Oman if the enemy sought to stop Iranian oil exports.
  • The warnings followed a U.S. attack on Larak island and Iranian strikes on U.S. bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, in the first military exchange between the sides in a month.

Iranian Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator Mohamad Baqer Qalibaf has warned that Tehran will respond militarily if the United States tightens its maritime blockade of Iranian ships and ports.

“If they intensify the blockade, we will undoubtedly give a military response,” Qalibaf said in a video published by Iranian media. He argued that international law considers a naval blockade a military action.

If they intensify the blockade, we will undoubtedly give a military response.

— Mohamad Baqer QalibafIran’s parliament speaker warned of retaliation if the U.S. blockade of Iranian ships and ports expands.

Qalibaf also issued a warning over oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. “If the enemy’s intention is that we do not export oil from the Persian Gulf, no one will be able to export oil,” he said. He added that Iran “will not allow” oil tankers to use the southern route near Oman, saying its use contradicted a memorandum of understanding signed with the United States on June 17. He described that agreement as no longer valid.

The U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and vessels aims to halt oil sales, one of Iran’s main sources of financing. Washington also launched an operation called Economic Pariah the previous week to further isolate Iran financially and pressure it in a war that has lasted six months.

If the enemy’s intention is that we do not export oil from the Persian Gulf, no one will be able to export oil.

— Mohamad Baqer QalibafHe warned that Iran would retaliate against efforts to stop its oil exports.

Qalibaf spoke a day after the United States attacked Larak island. Washington said Tehran had been preparing there to launch rockets loaded with naval mines into the Strait of Hormuz. The United States said it had cleared the passage of mines the previous week, and reported that two people died in the attack. Iran responded by attacking U.S. bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, apparently causing no damage. The exchange was the first military hostilities between the two sides in a month.

The Strait of Hormuz has become Iran’s main pressure tool in the war, which began on Feb. 28. Iran has nearly halted oil exports and requires ships seeking to cross the strait to obtain its permission. In recent weeks, however, the United States has restored part of maritime traffic along a southern route near Oman, according to oil and Middle East experts cited in the report.

will not allow

— Mohamad Baqer QalibafHe warned that Iran would block tanker traffic on the southern route near Oman.
About this summary

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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