Iran to open Hormuz once US stops interfering : IRGC

Iran said on Monday it will reopen the Strait of Hormuz once the United States ends interference in the strategic waterway, according to a statement from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Monday.

“The only way for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened for vessel traffic is for the interventions of the invading American army in this strait to end, and for respect to be shown for the sovereignty of countries over their own coastal waters,” the IRGC said in a statement cited by the Mehr news agency.

The IRGC warned that any continued US involvement in the waterway could result in further disruptions to global oil and gas trade.

The statement follows a series of US strikes on Iran that began on July 8. The US Central Command said the strikes were in response to Iranian interference with commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded with strikes on US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.

The IRGC said the retaliatory attacks were conducted after Washington’s latest airstrikes on locations in southern Iran. Tehran claimed the US strikes were linked to tensions surrounding maritime activity in the Strait of Hormuz.

The IRGC also stated that it had intercepted two vessels after they allegedly disabled their tracking systems and followed an unauthorized route through the waterway, creating a risk to maritime traffic in the strategically important strait.

The IRGC emphasized that the Strait of Hormuz is Iranian territory and that “we will not allow a rogue, child-killing army from the other side of the world to continue its illegal interference there.”