The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s navy, Alireza Tangsiri, said Tuesday that Israel‘s presence in the UAE was viewed as a threat by Tehran and it could close the Strait of Hormuz if deemed necessary. Iran has threatened to retaliate for suspected Israeli air strikes on its consulate in Syria’s capital on April 1.
“We do not get hit without striking back, but we are also not hasty in our retaliation,” Tangsiri said, according to Iran’s semi-official Student News Agency.”We can close the Hormuz Strait but are not doing so. However, if the enemy comes to disrupt us, we will review our policy.” About a fifth of the volume of the world’s total oil consumption passes through the strait on a daily basis. The UAE became the most prominent Arab nation to forge diplomatic ties with Israel in 30 years under a US-brokered accord in 2020.