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Iran's military warned Monday it would attack any U.S. forces that attempt to enter or approach the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran issued its sharpest direct threat yet to American naval assets hours after Washington announced it would begin guiding stranded ships out of the waterway under "Project Freedom."
"We warn that any foreign armed force, especially the aggressor U.S. military, if it intends to approach and enter the Strait of Hormuz, will be attacked," the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters stated, according to Iran's Sepah News and Tasnim News Agency.
The command said it would "with full force, maintain and powerfully manage the security of the Strait of Hormuz," and directed all commercial vessels and oil tankers to refrain from any transit without coordination with Iranian armed forces deployed in the strait, warning that unauthorized passage would put their safety at risk.
The command described U.S. naval activities in international waters as piracy, saying American forces "have resorted to theft and maritime piracy in the free and international waters of the world and have endangered the security of global trade and the global economy."
It warned U.S. allies to exercise caution by saying, "Supporters of evil America should be careful and not do anything that leads to irreversible regret, because America's aggressive action to disrupt the current situation will result in nothing but a more complicated situation and the endangerment of vessel security in this area."
Gen. Ali Abdollahi said Iran had "repeatedly declared" that security of the Strait of Hormuz is under the authority of the Islamic Republic's armed forces and that "under any circumstances, any safe passage takes place with the coordination of the armed forces."
The warning came directly in response to Trump's Sunday announcement that the U.S. would begin guiding neutral foreign vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday under Project Freedom.
U.S. Central Command said the operation would deploy guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms and 15,000 service members.
Trump had warned that any interference with the operation "will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully."
Iran's parliament security chief Ibrahim Azizi had earlier Monday declared any U.S. interference in the strait's new maritime regime a ceasefire violation.
The Khatam al-Anbiya statement marks a further escalation beyond that political warning, constituting an explicit military threat.
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