Iran Threatens to Disrupt Gulf Trade in Response to US Naval Blockade

Conservative Mohsen Rezaei, a top military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, warned on Wednesday that Iran would take land-invading U.S. troops hostage and sink American ships enforcing a military blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route for oil, gas and other Gulf exports.

Rezaei, the former commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard who was appointed as a military advisor by Khamenei last month, told state television that US navy warships “can definitely be exposed to our missiles and we can destroy them.”

Rezaei added that it would be “great” if Washington launched a ground attack on Iran, adding that “we will take thousands of hostages and then we will get a billion dollars for each hostage.”

– Fresh oil sanctions –

U.S. officials have imposed new sanctions against Iran, targeting companies and ships operating within oil shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani’s network, as well as more than two dozen people involved in oil transportation.

“The Treasury is acting aggressively with ‘Economic Rage,’ targeting regime elites like the Shamkhani family who seek to profit at the expense of the Iranian people,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. he said.

Shamkhani is the son of security official Ali Shamkhani, who is an advisor to Iranian religious leader Ali Khamenei. Both were killed on February 28, the beginning of US-Israeli attacks and the Middle East war.

– Increasing hunger fears –

The conflict in the Middle East could push millions more people into hunger as its economic consequences reverberate around the world, the World Bank’s chief economist told AFP.

“There are currently around 300 million people suffering from acute food insecurity,” said Indermit Gill. “This will increase very, very quickly by about 20 percent” as the knock-on effects grow.

– Wall Street records –

Major Wall Street stock indexes closed at records on Wednesday and continued their rise on optimism about the US-Iran conflict.

– ‘Same’ targets –

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel and the United States are completely aligned in their goal of containing Iran.

“We want to see the enriched material removed from Iran; we want to see the elimination of enrichment capacity in Iran, and of course we want to see the Strait of (Hormuz) reopened,” he said in a televised speech.

– The end of Hezbollah –

Netanyahu said the country’s top priority was to ensure the “shattering” of Hezbollah in the first direct talks with Lebanon in decades.

“There are two main goals: the first is the disintegration of Hezbollah; the second is a sustainable peace achieved through force,” he said.

– Second round of talks –

The White House said the United States is discussing a second round of peace talks with Iran and is optimistic about reaching an agreement.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that further meetings would “most likely” be in Islamabad.

– Israeli chief of staff gave the order ‘Hezbollah’s death zone’ –

Israel’s chief of staff said Hezbollah had ordered areas south of Lebanon’s Litani River to be turned into a “killing zone” as troops launched a major offensive there.

– China supports ‘acceleration’ in peace talks –

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Iranian counterpart that Beijing “supports maintaining the momentum of the ceasefire and peace talks.”

– The USA announced that it blocked the exit of 10 ships from Iranian ports –

CENTCOM, the US military’s Middle East command, said it stopped 10 ships from leaving Iranian ports during the first 48 hours of the naval blockade against the Islamic Republic.

However, ship tracking data showed that at least three ships departing from Iranian ports passed through the Strait of Hormuz, although some ships using the route later turned back.