Iran warns Strait of Hormuz is a 'red line' and will resist until the end

By Jana Choukeir and Nayera Abdallah DUBAI, July 16 (Reuters) - Iran said on Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz was an inviolable "red line", warning that if U.S.

By Jana Choukeir and Nayera Abdallah DUBAI, July 16 (Reuters) - Iran said on Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz was an inviolable "red line", warning that if U.S. President Donald Trump carried out his threat to attack Iran's infrastructure, it would strike all infrastructure across the Gulf region. The U.S. launched a fifth night of attacks on Wednesday and reimposed a naval blockade of Iran's ports, which Washington says is aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz, closed by Iran last Saturday after a fragile truce collapsed. After the first strikes on Wednesday night, Tehran's top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf issued a statement saying: "We are in an essential and existential war with America".

Iranian army spokesman Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia said on Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about a fifth of global oil and gas shipments before the war, was a "red line" for Iran over which it maintains firm control. "The Americans thought that by attacking some of our bases on the southern coasts of the country, they could take control of this strategic strait," Akraminia said. "However, the Islamic Republic of Iran has the ability to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz from every single point of its territory, and this matter is never dependent on coasts and islands."

Three U.S. officials told Reuters that U.S. strikes aimed at forcing open the strait are also targeting Iranian military capabilities the U.S. would want to destroy before executing more complex operations. Iran's army earlier said in