Iran’s security chief says Trump’s threats to hit harder are ‘empty’; IRGC vows to fight on and block all Gulf oil

Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, has dismissed warnings by Donald Trump that the United States would strike Iran harder if oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are disrupted. Larijani said Iran is not afraid of what he described as “empty threats” and warned Trump to be careful “not to be eliminated.”

Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also signaled it would continue fighting and maintain pressure on global energy routes, saying it would not allow the export of oil from the region to countries supporting the United States and its allies until hostilities end.

The escalating confrontation has intensified fears over global energy supplies, as roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz. Disruptions to shipping in the vital waterway have already rattled markets and heightened tensions across the Middle East.