'This Is Not Venezuela': Iranian Sources Vow to Forcefully Break Blockade, Defend Sovereignty Over Hormuz
The sharpest formulation came from Brigadier General Mohammad-Jafar Asadi, deputy for inspection at the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, in remarks carried by Mehr News Agency. Asadi was quoted as declaring that "Americans have no right to express opinions about the Strait of Hormuz," describing the Persian Gulf as a matter solely for Iran and its neighbors. According to Mehr, Asadi accused Washington of seeking to "plunder" Iranian oil resources and warned: "This is not Venezuela." He added, per the agency, that any renewed US or Israeli aggression would be met with a "harder blow" by the Iranian armed forces and the regional "axis of resistance."
In a separate interview with Mehr, Hossein-Ali Haji-Deligani, deputy chair of the Iranian parliament's Article 90 Commission, called on Tehran to "forcefully break" the alleged American naval blockade, saying "the time has come" to do so using the country's own capabilities. Mehr quoted him as arguing the blockade had been "doomed from the start" because no European or NATO country had agreed to support it, and as claiming that "American power is in decline" while "the literature of resistance" spreads globally. Haji-Deligani further asserted, according to the agency, that the Strait of Hormuz is "not international" but an "inseparable part" of Iranian territory, citing the Law of the Sea Convention's 12-mile territorial and 12-mile contiguous zones and noting the strait is roughly 21 miles wide. He also suggested, per Mehr, that Iran could route trade through its 15 neighbors and the Caspian Sea, and dismissed a recent shooting incident at the White House as material for Trump's "domestic consumption."
That defiance was paired with a demonstrative act on the water. According to Tasnim News Agency, IRGC Navy commandos intercepted and detained two container ships, identified as MSC FRANCESCA and EPAMINONDAS, near the Strait of Hormuz. Tasnim, an outlet affiliated with the IRGC, said the vessels were owned or chartered by companies linked to "Zionist billionaires" and had attempted to transit the strait under "fake flags" with their navigation systems switched off. The agency claimed Iranian drones and domestically built radars had tracked the ships and that the Iranian flag was now raised over the deck of one of them. Tasnim framed the operation as a "decisive response" to what it called American "naval piracy" and a violation of a ceasefire by US President Donald Trump.
Mehr also carried a statement attributed to the IRGC Intelligence Organization warning Iranians that "the enemy" is pursuing four tracks to fracture national unity: exaggerating the naval blockade, activating ethnic, religious and political divisions, inflaming economic grievances, and casting doubt on the achievements of the Islamic Revolution. The statement, as reported by Mehr, urged public "vigilance" against alleged disinformation.
On the diplomatic track, Tasnim reported that Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi departed Muscat for Islamabad on Saturday for a second round of consultations with Pakistani leaders on what Iranian officials describe as the "imposed war" by the United States against Iran. Tasnim said Araghchi had previously met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief General Asim Munir to convey Tehran's positions.
Press TV, Iran's English-language state broadcaster, framed the broader picture in a strategic analysis claiming that 40 days into a US-Israeli "war of aggression," Trump is "trapped" and "begging" for new talks while Iran negotiates "from victory." Press TV asserted that Iran's red lines now include war reparations from the United States, absolute Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz, and a permanent refusal to discuss its nuclear or missile programs. The outlet also suggested, without evidence, that the recent White House shooting may have been "staged" to manufacture a pretext against Iran.