‘Oil for everyone or no one,’ Iran warns
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has warned that regional oil and gas exports could be blocked completely in response to US attempts to control the Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement on Tuesday, the IRGC accused Washington of acting like “pirates” by restricting energy flows in the region and warned that other export routes serving the US and its allies could be blocked in response.
“Regional oil and gas exports are either for everyone or for no one,” the statement said.
The warning came as the IRGC claimed a new strike on US military infrastructure in Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet and serves as one of Washington’s main naval hubs in the Persian Gulf.
According to the IRGC, the fifth wave of Operation Nasr-2 targeted an NSA management center, a command-and-control center, large warehouses containing military parts and equipment, and fuel storage tanks belonging to the US Fifth Fleet.
The statement said the facilities had been “smashed and destroyed” in the early morning strike. The US military has not commented on the claim.
The latest warning follows Tehran’s decision to declare the Strait of Hormuz closed until the US ends its “illegal” military intervention in the region.
Washington has said its renewed strikes on Iran are aimed at protecting commercial shipping and freedom of navigation through the strait. US President Donald Trump has claimed that America is now “in control” of the waterway and will act as its “guardian.”
The US president has also threatened to escalate strikes against Iran, including attacks on power plants and bridges, unless Tehran returns to negotiations. In a Fox News interview on Tuesday, Trump refused to rule out a ground campaign, saying “other people” could carry it out, and again referred to Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub.
Kharg Island handles most of Iran’s crude exports and has been repeatedly cited by Trump as a possible target. Earlier this year, he said the US could seize the island “to take the oil.”
