‘Ridiculous’: Iran Army’s Navy Chief Mocks Trump Threats to Block Hormuz Strait

Monday, 13 April 2026 1:09 AM

Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, the commander of Iran Army's Navy.

Iran’s Navy commander has dismissed President Donald Trump’s latest threats to impose a naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz as “very ridiculous and laughable,” saying the Iranian military is closely monitoring every move of the US fleet in the region.

“The brave men of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Navy are tracking and monitoring all movements of the aggressor US military in the region,” Rear Admiral Shahram Irani said in a statement carried by Iranian media.

“The threats of the US president following the humiliating defeat of his army in the third imposed war, a naval blockade on Iran, are very ridiculous and laughable.”

Trump announced on Sunday that he had ordered the US Navy to block the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil passes.

The order came after high-level talks between Tehran and Washington in Islamabad failed to produce a deal.

The US president also warned that any ship that has paid a toll to Iran would be stopped in international waters.

Iran has placed restrictions on passage through the Strait of Hormuz since the US-Israeli war of aggression began on February 28.

The IRGC Navy has announced that the strait “will never return to its former state, especially for the US and Israel.”

Tehran has allowed vessels serving friendly nations to pass while barring ships affiliated with aggressor countries and their supporters.

The Iranian parliament has advanced draft legislation to impose transit fees in national currency and explicitly ban US and Israeli vessels.

Iran’s armed forces have launched hundreds of ballistic and hypersonic missiles, as well as drones, against American bases across West Asia and Israeli positions in the occupied territories.

Velayati says the key to the Strait of Hormuz remains in Iran’s “capable hands.”

The US has acknowledged dozens of military casualties and significant equipment losses.

The threat of a US blockade came just hours after marathon negotiations between IranIra and the United States in Pakistan’s capital ended without a breakthrough.

US Vice President JD Vance, who led the American delegation, said after the 20-hour session that it was now up to Iran to accept Washington’s “final, best” offer.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, however, said the US side had shown “maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade” when a deal was just inches away.

“Zero lessons earned,” Araghchi wrote on social media, implying that Washington had learned nothing from its failed confrontations with Iran.

Iran has repeatedly stated that it will not allow the US or Israel to dictate terms for the use of the Strait of Hormuz, which lies within its territorial waters.