Leader’s advisor: Iran will break US naval blockade, exit NPT if attacked again

Iran will break a naval blockade imposed by the United States on its vessels and ports and more importantly withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the US resumes attacks against the Islamic Republic, a senior advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution says.

Speaking during a ceremony on Sunday to commemorate the martyrs of the recent US-Israeli imposed war of aggression against Iran, Mohsen Rezaei said Tehran’s nuclear energy program is peaceful and under constant surveillance of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Under the guidance of the Leader, he added, the Iranian negotiating team in talks with the US has firmly declared that it would never back down from Iran’s inalienable nuclear rights.

“If you enter the Persian Gulf, first of all, we will give a tough, painful and unprecedented response and break the naval blockade,” he warned Washington.

“But more importantly, we may withdraw from the NPT. Do you know what will happen to you if we withdraw? So… don't commit suicide.”

Rezaei, a former commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), pointed to the current sensitive situation in the region and said “our fingers are on the trigger” for any possible act of aggression against the country.

He emphasized that the IRGC Navy manages the Strait of Hormuz in order to prevent military aggression and insecurity in the Persian Gulf by registering and identifying the vessels that seek to pass through the strategic waterway for free trade.

He warned US President Donald Trump and his administration that war would not be confined to only the Strait of Hormuz but will stretch to the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandab, and the Indian Ocean if they enter the Persian Gulf.

Iran shut down the strait to its enemies and their allies after the unprovoked US-Israeli aggression. Iranian authorities began enforcing much stricter controls last month following Trump’s announcement of a blockade targeting Iranian vessels and ports.

Tehran says the measures violate the terms of a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire that took effect on April 8 and was later extended unilaterally by Washington.

Despite the blockade, shipping activity linked to Iranian crude appears to be continuing.

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