SAEDNEWS: Iran Says Strait of Hormuz Fully Closed, Warns Non-Compliant Ships Will Be Blocked
According to Saednews, Speaking in a televised interview on Sunday night, Major General Rezaei rejected US President Donald Trump's claim that the Strait of Hormuz remains open, describing the statement as a “big lie.”
Rezaei said Iran is monitoring American smuggling vessels and has the capability to strike them. He claimed the United States has attempted to move five or six vessels through the area by spending significant amounts of money, but that the ships are usually targeted.
However, he said Iran has so far decided not to sink the vessels because they are carrying oil and their destruction could cause serious environmental damage to the region.
The Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) also dismissed claims that the US economic blockade is responsible for a major famine in Iran, calling such allegations a “huge lie.”
According to Rezaei, the Iranian government has been preparing for such circumstances for a long time and maintains sufficient reserves of food and other essential goods. He added that Iran continues to sell its oil and repatriate the resulting revenues.
Rezaei further claimed that, 48 hours before the interview, Iran had conducted a test of an Iranian anti-destroyer missile directly above a US aircraft carrier. He described the missile as a special weapon that caused serious concern among American forces and allegedly forced them to withdraw.
He said the United States must rebuild Iran's trust if negotiations are to continue. According to Rezaei, one of Iran's main concerns during the Islamabad memorandum of understanding was whether guarantees provided by intermediaries in the negotiations could be trusted.
He added that Iran is pursuing diplomacy but wants meaningful guarantees in place.
On the Strait of Hormuz, Rezaei said Iran would agree to keep the waterway open only if the United States stops threatening or attacking Iran.
He also claimed that Iran's armed forces had delivered a major strike against the US Titan Base in Jordan. Rezaei said Iranian forces had identified several American targets but deliberately refrained from attacking some of them, including the Titan facility in Jordan and military positions in Erbil.
According to his account, Iran eventually targeted these locations, after which Trump stepped back from the 10-day war he had previously announced.
Addressing the situation in Lebanon, Rezaei said the country would “rise again,” arguing that the course of a war cannot be judged simply by counting victories and defeats.
“Wars have their ups and downs,” he said, while maintaining that Hezbollah has historically held the upper hand in Lebanon.
Rezaei also said Iran reserves the right to respond to what he described as a “bloody American crime” involving an attack on a wedding ceremony.
