Iran’s Defense Council said in a statement that any attack on the country’s southern coast and islands would be punished by cutting routes in the Persian Gulf. The council said all access roads in the bay would be mined by various types of sea mines, including floating mines.
The threat from Iranian authorities came after reports that the United States is eyeing a blockade of Kharg Island to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping.
Kharg Island is Iran’s main oil export hub.
“Any attempt to attack Iran’s coasts or islands will cause all access routes in the Gulf (…) to be mined by various types of sea mines, including floating mines that can be released from the coast,” the statement said.
“In this case, the entire gulf will practically be in a situation similar to the Strait of Hormuz for a long time (…) The failure of more than 100 minesweepers in the 1980s to remove several sea mines should not be forgotten.”
The Defense Council reminded that non-belligerent states can pass through the Strait of Hormuz only after coordinating the passage with Iran.
The conflict between Israel and the United States and Iran has roiled financial markets and boosted energy prices as a critical shipping channel, the Strait of Hormuz, remains suspended.
The threat came just two days after Iran revealed its missile range capabilities for the first time ever when it fired ballistic missiles at a joint US-UK military base in Diego Garcia on Friday (March 20).
The missile puts major European cities including London and Paris at risk of attack from Iran if European bases are used to target the Middle Eastern country. However, it is not clear whether Tehran possesses any other medium-range ballistic missiles.
Iran has also recently threatened America that any attack on Tehran’s power plants or if Donald Trump’s warning to “wipe them out” is heeded, Tehran will target key infrastructure throughout the Middle East.
Iran’s military operations command said in a statement to Tasnim news agency: “Following previous warnings, if the enemy attacks Iran’s fuel and energy infrastructure, all energy, information technology and desalination infrastructure belonging to the US and the regime in the region will be targeted.”
In a social media post late Saturday night, Trump said he would “strike and wipe out” Iran’s power plants, starting with the largest, if it did not open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.
