TEHRAN, May 9 (Xinhua) — A senior Iranian lawmaker said on Friday that from now on, Iran will mount a military response to the U.S. naval blockade.
Ali Khezrian, a member of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, made the remarks in an interview with state-run IRIB TV, in response to the clashes between Iran and the United States in and around the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday and Friday.
“No one will be able to take military action against Iranian vessels any longer without facing a response,” he said, adding that the Iranian military first responded on Thursday night, when it targeted the U.S. destroyers after the Iranian ships were harassed by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Central Command during the ceasefire.
From now on, the Americans should know that Iran will safeguard its sovereignty over territorial and extraterritorial waters for its ships’ security, said the lawmaker.
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported the “sporadic clashes” between the Iranian armed forces and U.S. vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday.
On Thursday night, Iran’s main military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said the U.S. forces had attacked two Iranian vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, while simultaneously carrying out airstrikes on civilian areas in southern Iran in coordination with some regional states.
Ebrahim Zolfaghari, the headquarters’ spokesman, noted that Iran’s armed forces immediately retaliated by attacking U.S. military vessels east of the Strait of Hormuz and south of Iran’s Chabahar port, causing significant damage.
The U.S. Central Command said in a statement that U.S. forces had intercepted “unprovoked Iranian attacks” and responded with self-defense strikes as the U.S. Navy ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz.
