GENEVA (Reuters) – A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said on Wednesday that Guards and regular Iranian military forces had complete control of Gulf waters north of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
“Everything north of the Strait of Hormuz is under our control,” Ali Fadavi was quoted by Fars as saying, referring to the strait at the Gulf’s eastern end through which about a fifth of the oil that is consumed globally flows.
“(Movements of) American battleships in the region are under the complete control of Iran’s army and the Revolutionary Guards,” Fadavi told Fars, without providing details.
Tensions have spiked between Iran and the United States after Washington sent more military forces to the Middle East, including an aircraft carrier, B-52 bombers and Patriot missiles, in a show of force against what U.S. officials say are Iranian threats to its troops and interests in the region.
(Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Mark Heinrich)