It has been reported by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) that the deputy commander of the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has threatened to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Iran’s southern shores to the United States and its allies. Almost a third of all oil traded by sea passes through this narrow strait.
In a televised broadcast on Wednesday 4th May, the deputy commander of the IRGC, General Hossein Salami, said that “If the Americans and their regional allies want to pass through the Strait of Hormuz and threaten us, we will not allow any entry”.
In reference to the 10 US sailors that were captured in January, he said that the “Americans should learn from recent historical truths”. The US sailors were paraded on state television with their hands over their heads and were released shortly afterwards.
Regarding the IRGC’s announcement, Shahin Gobadi of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the NCRI said, on Wednesday, that Salami’s remarks can be defined as posturing by a weakened regime. He said: “The Iranian regime is engulfed in numerous crises including the one in Syria and it faces regional isolation as was manifested in the recent resolution by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). As such these remarks are just a hollow attempt for a show of force to boost the morale of the regime’s forces. In reality, this act would be tantamount to the regime shooting itself in the foot.”
