Zarif called the decision on the IRGC “absurd,” but suggested that Iran did not plan to respond militarily unless the United States changed the rules of engagement guiding how it interacts with Iran’s forces. The U.S. military has not suggested it would change its behavior after the blacklisting.
“We will exercise prudence but it doesn’t mean that if the United States changed the rules of the game, or changed the rules of engagement, it would be able to get away with that,” Zarif said.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and some senior military commanders have threatened to disrupt oil shipments from the Gulf countries if Washington tries to strangle Tehran oil exports.
Carrying one third of the world’s seaborne oil every day, the Strait of Hormuz links Middle East crude producers to markets in Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and beyond.
When asked if U.S. warships could still pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Zarif — a veteran diplomat who has been foreign minister for more than six years — said: “Ships can go through the Strait of Hormuz.”
“If the United States wanted to continue to observe the rules of engagement, the rules of the game, the channels of communication, the prevailing protocols, then in spite of the fact that we consider U.S. presence in the Persian Gulf as inherently destabilizing, we’re not going to take any action,” Zarif said.
The United States has accused Tehran of destabilizing the Middle East and helping to prop up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a civil war that began in 2011.
Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, the overseas arm of the IRGC, appeared on frontlines across Syria.
Zarif said Iran would remain “vigilant” in Syria and in Iraq after investing resources to fight there. “And we will not simply abandon that, that fight,” Zarif said.
from Viral News Updates http://bit.ly/2GIS4jv
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