According to Iran International TV, on August 23, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, posted on social media: “If this economic war continues, not a single drop of oil will be exported, whether through the Strait of Hormuz or anywhere else in the Persian Gulf.”
He stressed that any country participating in or supporting the US economic war against the Iranian people would be considered by Tehran as committing an act of war.
On the same day, the spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Ramazan Sharif, said the IRGC is fully prepared to counter US economic measures, and that Iran can sustain its trade despite Washington’s pressure.
He added that Iran has formulated response plans for all kinds of US hostilities: “We have strategies to neutralize the adverse effects of the enemy’s economic war.”
He also pointed out that President Trump’s announcement of a new round of economic action against Iran is, in effect, an admission of US military failure.
“We are conducting our economic transactions right under America’s nose, bypassing their restrictions. Very soon, everyone will see the results,” Sharif said.
Commenting on the US naval blockade and economic measures against Iran, Iran’s acting Defense Minister, Brigadier General Amir Hatami, remarked: “With our youth and our wisdom, we will overcome these difficult times.”
Furthermore, Hatami dismissed Trump’s claim that he would declare the Strait of Hormuz as US territory, saying Trump simply “talks too much.”
On August 19, Trump posted on social media that Iran “failed to seize the opportunity to reach a deal with the US,” and therefore he announced the “toughest economic action ever” against Tehran. He claimed it would be an unprecedented “economic war and economic isolation” aimed at weakening Iran.
