TEHRAN – Major General Yahya Rahim-Safavi has said that Iran will use all possible means to defend national interests if its security is threatened. 

“If any threat is posed to Iran, it will use all means to defend national interests,” Rahim-Safavi, the former commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, said on Monday. 

Rahim-Safavi, the military advisor to the Supreme Leader, added, “Given the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran is the most powerful country in the region and that with (a coastline of) 2025 kilometers has the longest coastline in the north of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, it is regarded as a major provider of the world’s energy security. However, it must be noted that” maintaining security in this area is a “collective” responsibility.  

Iran has recently threatened that it will block the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important chokepoints which represents about 30% of the world’s seaborne oil shipments, if sanctions are imposed on its oil export.