Iran Responds to US Blockade of Strait of Hormuz with This Warning

Iran has responded to the United States’ plan to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway handling 20% of the world’s oil traffic. The chairman of Iran’s parliament, who led peace negotiations with the US in Pakistan, stated that his country would not submit to such threats.

“If they fight, we will fight, and if they present logical arguments, we will counter with logic,” asserted Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in Tehran upon returning from Islamabad, Pakistan, as reported by AFP on Monday (13/4/2026).

“We will not bow to any threats; let them test our resolve again so we can give them a greater lesson,” he added.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stated that Iran’s security forces have fully taken control of the narrow shipping lane in the Strait of Hormuz. They even warned that enemies would be “trapped in a whirlpool of death” in the event of a miscalculation.

“All traffic… is under the full control of the armed forces,” said the IRGC naval command in a Persian-language post on X.

“Enemies will be trapped in a whirlpool of death in the Strait if they make a mistake,” it added, while posting a video showing ships in the crosshairs.

In a separate statement issued by the IRGC’s public relations office, the naval command of the force also affirmed that “contrary to the false claims of some enemy officials”, the Strait of Hormuz remains “open to civilian shipping traffic without risk, in accordance with relevant special regulations”.

The statement did not provide details on the nature of those rules but added that “any military vessel intending to approach the Strait of Hormuz under any pretext will be considered a violation of the ceasefire and will be dealt with firmly”.

Previously, in a statement on the Truth Social platform, US President Donald Trump emphasised that the US Navy would soon begin the process of blockading ships passing through the strategic route.

“Starting now, the United States Navy will blockade all ships attempting to enter or exit the Strait of Hormuz,” he said, as quoted by CNBC International on Monday.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated that the blockade operation would begin to be enforced on Monday at 10 a.m. local time. However, the on-the-ground implementation is said to be more limited than Trump’s initial statement, where ships heading to non-Iranian ports are still allowed to pass.