IRGC spokesman General Mohebi warns of a harsher response if the US attacks Iranian vessels.
IRGC spokesman Brigadier General Hossein Mohebi
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has warned the United States against attacking Iranian vessels in regional waters, vowing to deliver a harsher response to any such move.
IRGC spokesman Brigadier General Hossein Mohebi said on Sunday that the war between the Islamic Republic of Iran and “the enemy” continues on both military and economic fronts.
“Naturally, in a war, they might hit one of our vessels. But we’ll hit harder,” he told the Fars news agency.
Reacting to the US military’s newly announced plan to disrupt Iran’s land-based supply routes under its so-called “Iron Gate” campaign, Mohebi said Washington “can never achieve the type of economic blockade it is seeking, whatever form it takes.”
He described the plan as “a play on words,” stressing that Iran had made the necessary arrangements to maintain trade and other ties with neighboring countries.
The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), which Iran has designated a terrorist organization, announced on Saturday that it had established a new task force “to prevent Iran from using ground routes to transport advanced weapons and other materials.”
CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper said the task force would reinforce what he described as the success of the US naval blockade of Iran.
Based in Tampa, Florida, the task force will coordinate with other US government agencies to block Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea routes
Mohebi, however, said Iran has maintained strong trade relations with its neighbors and has access to various routes that the United States would be unable to block.
“If the United States is serious about this, we are even more serious, and we have made the necessary arrangements to maintain ties with neighboring countries,” he added.
The US military’s new measures come as Iran has maintained control over the Strait of Hormuz and continued to manage passage through the strategic waterway despite ongoing US aggression.
On Sunday, three oil tankers exploded and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz after violating Iran’s maritime traffic regulations.
In a statement, the IRGC Navy said the tankers had switched off their navigation and identification systems and were burning as a result of what it described as “mischief” by the US “smuggling and aggressor army.”
The IRGC warned that vessels defying Iranian regulations would face similar consequences.
