By Xinhua,
Tehran : Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces said on Saturday that Iran’s strategy is to keep the Straitof Hormuz in southern Iran open, the official IRNA news agency reported.
But if the country’s interests are jeopardized in the region, we will not let any ship pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Major General Hasan Firouzabadi was quoted as saying.
The army chief underlined the role of the strait, a narrow waterway in the Gulf through which roughly 40 percent of the world oil is transported, saying that the Hormuz Strait is a strategic canal with vital importance to Tehran.
Citing Pentagon officials, The New York Times recently carried a report saying that over 100 Israeli F-16s and F-15s staged a maneuver over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece in early June.
Israeli jets flew over 1,450 km, roughly the distance from their airfields to a nuclear enrichment facility in the central Iranian city of Natanz, thus giving rise to speculation that Israel is making preparations for an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the report said.
A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), has indicated that in case the country comes under attack, Iran would consider everything in its power to repel the invaders.
His remarks were seen as a signal that in the event of an attack on the country, Tehran may consider, among other things, closing the Strait of Hormuz.