Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has condemned the continued military and economic pressure on Iran, arguing that measures such as the US naval blockade of its ports are in fact a continuation of hostilities against the country.
In a post on X on Thursday, Pezeshkian said: “The world has witnessed Iran’s tolerance and conciliation. What is happening under the guise of a naval blockade is the expansion of military operations against a nation that is paying the price for its resistance and independence.”
He added: “The continuation of this repressive approach is intolerable.”
It’s not a war: What did Trump say?
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Trump made a series of claims about Iran, its internal situation and Washington’s ongoing actions there, claiming that “US operations as an ongoing but not a formal war have a military operation.”
Noting that Iran had carried out mass killings during its internal turmoil, Trump said: “Iran has killed 42,000 people in the last two months. They were going to kill eight women whose lives I saved. And I appreciate that they didn’t. I asked them not to, but they didn’t.”
Trump described US operations as ongoing but not a formal war, saying: “And this despite a military operation. I don’t call it a war. I’d rather have a military operation. Iran is dying to make a deal.”
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“Their economy is collapsing. The blockade is unbelievable. The power of the blockade is unbelievable. They are not getting any money from oil. And hopefully this can be resolved very soon,” he added.
He claimed that US actions had significantly reduced Iran’s military capacity, saying: “Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone, their drone factories are about 82 percent out of service, and their missile factories are almost 90 percent down.”
44 commercial vessels ordered to turn around: US CENTCOM
US CENTCOM (Central Command) claimed on Thursday (local time) that so far “44 commercial vessels have been ordered to turn around or return to port” as a result of naval blockade operations against Iran.
In a post on X CENTCOM said: “US sailors aboard USS New Orleans (LPD 18) are patrolling the Arabian Sea during naval blockade operations against Iran. To date, 44 commercial vessels have been ordered to turn around or return to port.”
Iranian Parliament Speaker MB Ghalibaf said on Thursday that Tehran would ensure the security of the Persian Gulf and end what he described as “US presence and interference” in exercising control over the Strait of Hormuz amid geopolitical tensions over the Islamic Republic’s recent confrontation with Washington and a power struggle between the two sides for virtual control of the strategic waterway.
In a post on X, Ghalibaf referred to historical events and stated that Iranian forces expelled European colonizers from the Persian Gulf in 1622 after more than a century of occupation.
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“In 1622 AD, after 115 years of occupation, we drove the European colonizers out of the Persian Gulf, and in honor of that victory we celebrate Persian Gulf Day. Even today, by exercising control over the Strait of Hormuz, Iran will ensure that it and its neighbors will have the rare blessing of a future free of American presence and interference.”
According to Press TV, Iranian ruler Abbas I led the forces that defeated the Portuguese on the island of Hormuz, ending a two-decade conflict and bringing to a close a century or so of foreign control over the Persian Gulf.
