“Your ships will be sunk by our missiles. (…) Mr. (Donald) Trump wants to guard the Strait of Hormuz. Is this really your task? Is it the task of a powerful army like the United States Army?” – said the former commander of the Iranian army.
Rezai, who became Mojtaba Khamenei's military advisor in March, also expressed the opinion that “it would be good if the United States launched a ground invasion.”
“We are fully prepared”
“We would take thousands of hostages and then get a billion dollars for each of them,” said a military adviser to Iran's supreme leader. The former head of the IRGC also added that he was personally not in favor of extending the ceasefire with the US; he also emphasized that this was his private opinion.
“Unlike the Americans, who fear constant conflict, we are fully prepared and accustomed to a prolonged war,” Khamenei's adviser added.
AFP wrote that Rezai is considered a very conservative politician even in the structures of the IRGC, which he headed in the years 1981–1997, among others. during the Iran-Iraq war (1980–1988).
Last Wednesday, the US announced a two-week truce in the war it and Israel have been waging against Iran since February 28. The Wall Street Journal wrote on Wednesday that representatives of Iran and the US agreed to another round of talks, but neither the date nor the place has been set yet.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that if further talks with Iran take place, they will very likely be held in Pakistan again. The previous negotiations, which took place over the weekend, did not bring any closer positions.
In response to the bombings carried out by Israel and the United States, Iran is blocking the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately 20 percent of the world's population passes under normal conditions. world supplies of crude oil. The blockade has led to a sharp increase in fuel prices around the world, especially in Asian countries that use the raw material extracted in the Persian Gulf countries the most. It is estimated that tanker traffic in Hormuz has now decreased by 70 to even 80 percent.
In response to the blockade of Hormuz, the United States began a blockade of Iranian ports. U.S. Central Command said Wednesday that no Iranian vessels had passed through since Monday, and nine ships sailing from or to Iranian ports had turned back at the behest of U.S. forces.
