US Feels Force Of IRGC In Persian Gulf - Navy Commander

As tensions continue in the Persian Gulf, an IRGC commander claims the US feels the IRGC's naval authority in the region, including the trouble stricken Strait of Hormuz.

Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, the commander of IRGC navy, made the comments on Tuesday during a ceremony in the southern Khuzestan province.

“We, the soldiers of the Revolutionary Guards, perform our duty to defend the nation of Islamic Iran till the last drop of our blood,” he said.

His statements were made after senior officials from 22 nations and the GCC held a multilateral meeting in Bahrain this week to discuss the current maritime security environment and ways to further enhance that in the region which has seen numerous incidents as Iran flexes its muscles in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. 

After the meeting in Bahrain, the Spokesman of the US State Department, Matthew Miller said in a tweet on Tuesday that “the United States and like minded partners in the Middle East and from around the world are committed to enhancing maritime security in across the Middle East region and ensuring freedom of navigation through the region’s vital waterways.”

Earlier this month, the US Navy reported that Iranian military speed boats were "harassing" a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC claimed to have assisted the vessel.

Iran has hundreds of fast attack boats that for years not only have harassed civilian vessels but, on many occasions, have come dangerously close to US and other warships in a show of force.

Iranian attacks on cargo vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping lane that carries about a fifth of the world’s oil, have increased over recent years and raised tensions between the US and Iran, in addition to other Western and Persian Gulf nations.