Rear Admiral Ozamaei: We are counting moments until we sink US warships

Pars Today – The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy said US warships do not dare approach the Strait of Hormuz, adding that Iranian forces are waiting for them to come near the strait’s entrance so they could sink them.

“We are waiting for US warships to approach the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz so we can sink them. We are counting down, moment by moment, until that happens,” he said.

According to Pars Today, citing IRNA, Rear Admiral Ali Ozamaei, commander of the IRGC Navy, told Iranian television on Tuesday night that Iran had turned its tactical weaknesses into strengths.

“If the Americans want to find out whether the Strait of Hormuz is open or closed, they should enter the arena and see who controls it,” he said.

Ozamaei said the United States had effectively turned its seven fleets into fuel smugglers. He added that a US warship worth $13 billion had been rendered ineffective and had moved 700 kilometres away from the Strait of Hormuz because it did not dare approach it.

The IRGC Navy commander said Iranian forces had shown only one or two examples of their punishment of ships that violated the rules. He added that the United States and its regional partners had imposed a media blackout to prevent people around the world from learning that offending vessels were being punished. That, he said, was why Iranian forces had released footage of two such cases.

Ozamaei added that the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf were under the control of the IRGC Navy, while the Islamic Republic of Iran Army controlled the Sea of Oman. He said the blockade was therefore taking place beyond the Sea of Oman, in the Arabian Sea.

He stressed that the IRGC Navy exercised intelligent control over the Strait of Hormuz, granting transit permits through Iranian waters according to a hierarchy of authorisations and in line with the number of vessels travelling to and from Iran.

Ozamaei said Iran could ensure economic, political and military security in cooperation with its neighbours and did not need the United States. He said Washington was seeking to destroy the wealth of the region’s people.

He added that the US military had now been humiliated and reduced to a state of misery and desperation.