Iran says to close Hormuz Strait if threatened

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      Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari said that Iran will not restrict itself to closing the Strait of Hormuz if it is threatened, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Monday.

Closing the Strait of Hormuz is on Iran's agenda in special circumstances and in the face of threats, Jafari told the Mehr News Agency, adding that "we have not limited ourselves to this (tactic) and have not stopped there."

"Currently, we are seeking to utilize our defensive capabilities in open seas. And it means that if enemy plans to pose a threat to the Islamic Republic of Iran from outside the Strait of Hormuz, we are capable of taking retaliatory measures, and this strategy is currently on our agenda," he was quoted as saying.

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow, strategically important waterway between the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf.

The strait is the only sea passage to the open ocean for large areas of the petroleum-exporting Persian Gulf. About 15 tankers carrying 16.5 million to 17 million barrels of crude oil pass through the strait on average every day, making it one of the world's most strategically important choke points. This represents 40 percent of the world's seaborne oil shipments, and 20 percent of all world oil shipments.

The Aerospace Commander of IRGC Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said Iran plans to test-fire new "supersonic surface-to- sea missiles" as part of its ongoing war games in the Persian Gulf in the coming days, the English language satellite Press TV reported on Monday.

Hajizadeh said that the new missiles have been designed to target ships and forces at sea, said the report.