Iranian Revolutionary Guard: 'We can block US oil exports as revenge'

Iran has claimed to have full control of the Gulf, saying the US Navy does not belong there, the head of the navy of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, General Alireza Tangsiri said on Monday, according to Iranian Tasnim News Agency.

Tangsiri claimed that Tehran has full control of the Gulf and the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which the US uses to ship oil. Iran has threatened to close the strait in the event of a military escalation with the US, an event that would severely disrupt global oil supplies.

"We can ensure the security of the Persian Gulf and there is no need for the presence of aliens like the US and the countries whose home is not in here," he said.

"All the carriers and military and non-military ships will be controlled and there is full supervision over the Persian Gulf. Our presence in the region is physical and constant and night and day."

The US reimposed a wave of tough unilateral sanctions against Iran on 7 August, bringing into effect penalties that had been lifted under the 2015 nuclear accord.

The first of two rounds of US sanctions targeted Iran's access to US banknotes.

The impact of the return of sanctions has also ramped up political tensions inside Iran, which has seen days of protests and strikes in multiple towns and cities over water shortages, high prices and wider anger at the government.

Severe reporting restrictions have made it impossible to verify the swirl of claims coming through social media.

Trump has previously said he was open to reaching a more comprehensive deal with Iran "that addresses the full range of the regime's malign activities, including its ballistic missile program and its support for terrorism".

This is something Tehran, at least for now, is unwilling to accept.

"If you're an enemy and you stab the other person with a knife, and then you say you want negotiations, then the first thing you have to do is remove the knife," the Iranian leader Hasan Rouhani said in an interview on state television on earlier this month.