Iran’s military said a US naval blockade set to begin on Monday would be illegal and amount to piracy, warning that no Gulf ports would be safe if its own were threatened.
“The restrictions imposed by criminal America on maritime navigation and transit in international waters are illegal and constitute an example of piracy,” said a statement issued by the Iranian military’s central command center, Khatam Al-Anbiya, that was read on state television.
Iran would decisively implement a “permanent mechanism” to control the Strait of Hormuz following US threats to blockade it, the statement said.
“If the security of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s ports in the waters of the [Arabian] Gulf and the Arabian Sea is threatened, no port in the [Arabian] Gulf and the Arabian Sea will be safe,” it added.
The US military said it will begin a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas on Monday.
The US Central Command said that the US blockade, starting at 10 a.m. ET on Monday (1400 GMT), would be “enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.”
Vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports will not be impeded, the US military said. Additional information would be provided to commercial mariners through a formal notice prior to the start of the blockade, it said.
With agencies
