Iran’s military has declared it will not back down “one step” over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, with a senior commander warning that the waterway will not be opened through US aggression or war.
Brigadier General Mohammad Akrami Nia, spokesperson for the Iranian army, made the remarks on Tuesday amid rising aggression by Washington against Tehran. He stressed that the only path to securing passage through the strait lies in respecting the rights of the Iranian people.
“The Iranian forces will not retreat one step from their position regarding the Strait of Hormuz,” General Akrami Nia said, adding that Iran is bound to avenge the blood of its martyrs, specifically naming the late commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, whose assassination in a US drone strike in 2020 remains a rallying cry for Iranian military officials.
The statements come as mutual threats intensify and speculation grows over the future of navigation in the vital chokepoint, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil supply passes. Analysts warn that any escalation could broaden the scope of confrontation across the Gulf region.
In a related development, the Iranian news agency Nour News cited an unnamed military source as warning that any blockade of Iran’s ports would trigger “unforeseeable conditions” for the region and the global economy.
“The response to such a blockade would be beyond calculations and exceed the imaginations of its planners,” the source said, according to Nour News. “The repercussions will not be limited to Iran.”
The source further cautioned that a blockade would lead to the closure of multiple maritime corridors, potentially disrupting international shipping far beyond the Gulf.
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy announced on Tuesday that it targeted two supertankers in the Strait of Hormuz after they violated maritime navigation rules, while also launching missile and drone strikes against a US-operated military base in Bahrain.
The IRGC said the vessels, the Mombasa and Al-Bahiya, both Liberia-flagged and managed by Abu Dhabi's ADNOC Logistics, had switched off their tracking systems and attempted passage through a restricted route near Omani waters, an act Tehran described as a threat to maritime security. Iran has repeatedly warned all ships to adhere to authorized corridors and comply with Iranian naval instructions.
In a parallel operation, Iran announced it had struck the US-operated Juffair base in Bahrain, home to US Fifth Fleet facilities. The IRGC said the attack, carried out with missiles and one-way drones, hit weapons depots, a satellite communications hub, and accommodation units for US personnel, claiming all were "neutralized" in the assault.
The IRGC described the Juffair strike as the first phase of its response to renewed US attacks on Iranian coastal military positions and other sites in southern Iran, vowing that further retaliatory operations would continue as tensions over the Strait of Hormuz intensify.
In a subsequent statement, the IRGC's Aerospace Force and Navy said they also ignited a fuel storage facility at the Bahrain base and disabled a Patriot air defense radar, the fleet's air control radar, and a C-RAM defense system. The command center for unmanned guided boats was additionally destroyed, according to the IRGC, which pledged that the response would progress in lockstep with ongoing US-Iranian escalation in the Gulf.
Iran's retaliation comes as Washington continues its hostile campaign against the Islamic Republic.
The US launched the third consecutive night of military strikes against Iran, with US Central Command (CENTCOM) announcing that the operation was carried out by order of US President Donald Trump.
CENTCOM announced in a statement that the strikes are intended to continue what it claims are high costs on the Iranian forces and degrade Iran's ability to carry out its geographic leverage over the affairs of the Strait of Hormuz.
However, Iran's retaliation shows that it is willing and capable of defending its national sovereignty and regional interests despite Washington's bullying.