Iran’s military warned US forces on Monday not to enter the Strait of Hormuz after President Donald Trump said the United States would start helping to free ships stranded in the Gulf by the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Trump gave few details of the plan to aid ships and their crews that have been “locked up” in the vital waterway and are running low on food and other supplies more than two months since the conflict began. “We have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site on Sunday.
The unified command of Iran’s armed forces responded by warning US forces to stay out of the strait. Its forces would “respond harshly” to any threat, it added, telling commercial ships and oil tankers to refrain from any movement in the absence of coordination with Iran’s military.
“We have repeatedly said the security of the Strait of Hormuz is in our hands and that the safe passage of vessels needs to be coordinated with the armed forces,” Ali Abdollahi, the head of the forces’ unified command said in the statement. “We warn that any foreign armed forces, especially the aggressive US army, will be attacked if they intend to approach and enter the Strait of Hormuz.”
US Central Command said it would support the effort with 15,000 military personnel, more than 100 land and sea-based aircraft, along with warships and drones.