Iran’s Islamic regime threatened this Wednesday (11) to attack ports and economic centers across the Middle East if the United States carries out military actions against such Iranian installations in the region. The threat was made after the US Armed Forces Central Command (Centcom) asked civilians to avoid Iranian ports that were being used for military operations.
The threat was disclosed by the spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces, Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, in an interview with state television.
“If the US threat against Iran’s ports materializes, all ports and economic centers in the region will be attacked,” he said.
Shekarchi also called on neighboring countries not to allow the presence of American troops in their territories and denied US accusations that Revolutionary Guard vessels were hiding ships in civilian ports. According to him, the information released by Washington is part of an “attempt to justify new military actions against the country”.
The American accusation was made shortly before by the United States Central Command, which advised the Iranian population to immediately avoid port areas where the regime’s naval forces were operating. In a statement, Centcom stated that it cannot guarantee the safety of civilians near installations used for military purposes.
According to the military command, Iran was using civilian ports along the Strait of Hormuz to conduct naval operations, which would put international maritime transport at risk.
“Civilian ports used for military purposes lose their protected status and become legitimate targets,” it said, adding that Iranian actions put civilian lives and navigation safety at risk.
The warning came hours after the release of a video by Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of Centcom, in which he declared that the mission of American forces is to reduce Iran’s ability to project military power in the region and prevent attacks against ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz.
The strait region has become one of the main points of tension since the start of the war between the United States, Israel and Iran, which began on February 28. The maritime passage is considered strategic, as around a fifth of the oil transported in the world passes through there, according to data from the international energy market.
According to Iranian officials, Tehran will not allow “not one liter of oil” to cross the Strait of Hormuz for the benefit of the United States, Israel or allied countries. The Iranian Army said this week that it struck two ships that had ignored warnings from its naval force, including a vessel that, according to the regime, had links to Israel.
Centcom, in turn, stated that it had recently destroyed several Iranian military vessels near the strait, including ships used to lay sea mines, amid the escalation of clashes in the region.
