Iran supreme leader’s adviser threatens to sink US ships in Strait of Hormuz

A military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader has warned that Iranian forces would sink US ships in the Strait of Hormuz if Washington acts as a “policeman” in the strategic waterway.

The warning was made on Wednesday amid ongoing tensions in the region, where the United States has imposed a military blockade on Iranian ports after Iran disrupted maritime navigation in the strait during more than six weeks of fighting, now paused under a fragile two-week ceasefire.

Mohsen Rezaei, a former commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards who was appointed as a military adviser by Khamenei last month, criticised the US President in remarks broadcast on state television, according to AFP, saying: “Mr Trump wants to become the police of the Strait of Hormuz. Is this really your job? Is this the job of a powerful army like the US?” 

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Speaking in military uniform, he added: “These ships of yours will be sunk by our first missiles and have created a great danger for the US military. They can definitely be exposed to our missiles and we can destroy them.”     

Rezaei, long considered a hardliner even within the Revolutionary Guard, also said that it would be “great” if the US launched a ground invasion of Iran, as “we would take thousands of hostages and then for each hostage we would get a billion dollars,” according to AFP.

He added: “I am not in favour of extending the ceasefire at all, and this is a personal view,” without giving further details.

Rezaei is a veteran figure in Iran’s political and military establishment and led the Revolutionary Guard between 1981 and 1997.

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