Iran's Supreme Leader's military advisor Rezaei stated that Iran's armed forces will not allow the United States to implement a blockade, and said the authorities possess "powerful cards yet to be used" to respond to such threats.
According to Xinhua News Agency, on the 12th, Rezaei posted on social media that after the United States suffered a "historic failure" in the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime blockade is similarly "doomed to fail."
He also said that Iran "is not a place that can be blockaded by (social media) posts and imagined plans." US President Trump had earlier declared an intention to blockade the Strait of Hormuz.
However, Trump's remarks were at odds with a subsequent statement from the US Central Command. Central Command said that the authorities would not impede the free navigation of ships traveling to and from non-Iranian ports through the Strait of Hormuz.
According to Iran's Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the commander of the IRGC Quds Force, Qaani, said that the United States and Israel should remember how they fled empty-handed from Yemen, the Bab-el-Mandeb, and the Red Sea in a panic. He emphasized that this time, they will likewise leave this region empty-handed.