The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says US President Donald Trump’s claims of control over the Strait of Hormuz and the clearance of mines from the strategic waterway are “sheer lies.”
The Strait of Hormuz is “completely closed,” Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi, the IRGC spokesman, said on Monday.
“The recent incidents involving several oil tankers in the region prove Trump’s claims false,” he said, referring to tankers either hitting mines or being targeted while trying to transit unauthorized routes in the Strait of Hormuz.
The IRGC spokesman questioned how the US president could claim to control the Strait of Hormuz while several vessels face the same fate almost daily.
General Mohebbi also rejected claims by Trump and the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Admiral Brad Cooper that naval mines had been cleared from the Strait of Hormuz.
“No war mines have been cleared from the Strait of Hormuz, and this claim is an outright lie.”
No one has dared to enter the Strait of Hormuz to carry out mine-clearing operations, the Iranian general insisted.
Brad Cooper has claimed that the primary shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz have been cleared of Iranian sea mines and commercial vessels are continuing to transit.
Since the United States and Israel launched their illegal war of aggression against Iran on February 28, Tehran has imposed strict regulations on the Strait, requiring all vessels to coordinate with Iranian naval authorities and obtain permission before transiting.
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz remains under its complete control, with the IRGC Navy and the Army Navy jointly managing security in the region.
Officials have warned that ships attempting to avoid detection by turning off their systems or entering unauthorized routes do so at their own risk and expose themselves to the defensive measures in place to protect the sovereign rights of the Islamic Republic and the security of the Persian Gulf.
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