Iran threatens tougher response to any US attack on its ships

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has warned that it would launch a stronger response if the United States attacks any of its ships, as military and economic tensions between the two countries continue.

IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi said the conflict with the United States was ongoing on both military and economic fronts.

“We are at war with the enemy on both military and economic fronts. Naturally, they may strike one of our ships, but we will hit back harder,” he told Iran’s Fars news agency in an interview, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday.

Mohebbi also rejected Washington’s newly announced ‘Iron Gate’ initiative, which aims to disrupt Iran’s land-based supply routes for goods and weapons.

He said the United States would not be able to enforce the economic blockade it was planning against Iran.

The US military has said it would form a 20-member task force to explore ways to disrupt Iran’s overland supply networks, which Washington claims are used to transport weapons and illicit goods.

The planned restrictions would come alongside a US naval blockade of Iranian ports. Iran has responded by restricting shipping through the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global energy supplies.

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