TEHRAN, Sept. 7 — Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Monday warned South Korea against maintaining a military presence or participating in operations in the Strait of Hormuz.
Baghaei issued the warning in a post on X after Seoul said Friday that it was reviewing options, including military measures, to support “freedom of navigation” in the Strait of Hormuz.
He said that the relationship between Iran and South Korea has a history spanning more than 64 years, and that bilateral ties have consistently developed on the basis of mutual respect while Iran attaches great importance to its friendly relations with South Korea.
He noted that the Iranian people were currently defending themselves against U.S. “aggressive actions.” “At a time when the Iranian people are resolutely responding to America’s war crimes against women and children, any other country maintaining a military presence or participating in operations in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz can only be regarded as directly supporting the perpetrators of the aggression, and it will lead to serious consequences,” he said.
In another post on X early Monday, Baghaei said the Strait of Hormuz had been “wide open” until Feb. 28, when the United States and Israel attacked Iran. He said Washington had “unleashed an unlawful and savage war on the region and disrupted the normal flow of commercial shipping,” with tankers halted, trade disrupted and energy prices soaring.
After the United States and Israel launched the war on Iran, Tehran restricted shipping passage through the strait, while U.S. forces imposed a naval blockade targeting vessels traveling to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas.(Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
