Iran Says Enemies Cannot Cut Oil Exports to Zero

By Staff, Agencies

Iranian Deputy Parliament Speaker Ali Nikzad said Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz belongs to Iran and that the country's enemies will never succeed in reducing its oil exports to zero.

Nikzad said Iran's enemies had devised a plan to seize control of the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab in an effort to dominate around 60% of the world's oil. He stressed, however, that they would be unable to implement such a plan.

He also said the United States had miscalculated both the military and defensive capabilities of Iran's armed forces and the unity of the Iranian people. "They have done everything in their power to force Iran to surrender, but we have not surrendered," Nikzad said.

Major General Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, meanwhile said US President Donald Trump is now "stuck in a quagmire."

"He can neither negotiate nor wage war," Rezaei said, according to the report.

On Wednesday, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a senior advisor to the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), said the United States had used every measure available against Iran over the past seven months and had failed.

Naqdi said Washington would stop further military attacks if it acted according to its own interests, warning that "launching another attack on Iran would be suicide for the Americans."

The statements come as Iranian officials continue to emphasize the country's military capabilities, national unity and control over the Strait of Hormuz while warning the United States against further military escalation.