Iran said on Monday that the plan to close the Strait of Hormuz was ready, noting that the final decision on closure to be taken by the Supreme Leader Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei.

Iran said on Monday that the plan to close the Strait of Hormuz was ready, noting that the final decision on closure to be taken by the Supreme Leader Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces said that the implementation of the plan devised for the blockade of Hormuz strait required an order by the Supreme Leader. 

“We have a (contingency) plan for the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, but its implementation requires the decision and order of the commander in chief (the Leader),” Major General Hassan Firouzabadi told reporters on Sunday.

“They say that Iran is bluffing to console themselves. Of course, we do not intend to block the Strait of Hormuz, but we have a (contingency) plan for its blockade, which is a clever and viable plan,” he added.

On the increased presence of US military forces in the Gulf region, Firouzabadi said that they wanted to assure the Arabs of the region that shipping routes would not be blocked. However he added that but the US “employs every day a new method to “blackmail the oil-rich Arab countries.”

Iranian Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee put forward a proposal on July 1 calling for the Strait of Hormuz to be blocked to prevent the passage of tankers that carry oil for the countries that have imposed sanctions on Iran.

The proposal was prepared in response to the European Union’s oil embargo on the Islamic Republic that took effect on July 1.