'Energy for everyone or no one': Iran's IRGC warns Trump

Brigadier General Yadollah Javani says the US will fail to reopen the Strait of Hormuz militarily, warning of consequences if the US attacks Iranian infrastructure.

16.07.2026

By Al Mayadeen English

Source: https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-energy-for-everyone-or-no-one---iran-s-irgc-warns-trump

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Deputy Commander for Political Affairs Brigadier General Yadollah Javani said on Thursday that the United States will not be able to reopen the Strait of Hormuz using military force, stressing that there is a consensus in Iran to maintain control over the strategic waterway.

Javani said US President Donald Trump "will take the dream of reopening the Strait of Hormuz through military action with him to the grave," adding that Iranian officials are fully united over preserving the waterway and enforcing Iran's arrangements regarding its management.

The IRGC official said Iran's armed forces have the military capabilities needed to maintain control over the strait due to the geopolitical importance of the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Sea of Oman. He also claimed that there is full public support inside Iran for the policy, saying the Iranian people not only support maintaining control over the strait but consider it a top priority.

Iran warns against targeting infrastructure

Javani also addressed Trump's threats to target Iranian infrastructure, saying Washington believes it can retaliate against Iran by destroying infrastructure and depriving the Iranian people of energy.

"Trump imagines that he can easily take revenge against a resistant and steadfast people facing American ambitions by destroying Iran's infrastructure and depriving our people of energy," Javani said.

To that, he warned that if the US military makes a strategic mistake by targeting Iranian infrastructure, "the entire world, including leaders in America, Europe, other regions, and the rulers of regional countries, must pay attention to this important and decisive point: if the terrorist US army commits such a strategic mistake, everyone should bid farewell to energy in the region."

Javani added that Iran has adopted a firm policy regarding energy, stating, "Energy for everyone or no one."

Iran announced days ago that it had fully closed the Strait of Hormuz after previously allowing commercial vessels to pass through routes designated by the IRGC, following the US violation of the memorandum of understanding between the two sides.

Iran will not allow US to intervene in the strait

Earlier on Thursday, speaking on behalf of Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari said the United States "continues its arrogance and destabilization of the region," stressing that Iran "will not allow, under any circumstances or in any form, the United States, as a country from outside the region, to intervene in the Strait of Hormuz," stating that the issue is "an unbreakable red line".

Zolfaghari warned that if Trump follows through on threats to target Iranian infrastructure, "everything that has remained intact until now, namely the infrastructure across the region, will be crushed under the strikes of the Iranian armed forces until nothing remains."

He added that Iran's response would not be proportional, saying the country's armed forces would deliver "a superior strike, more severe, broader, and more destructive than ever before," while warning that "the fire of the anger of a people who have never surrendered will burn the aggressor."

The remarks came after Trump threatened to target Iranian infrastructure, including power plants and bridges, if Tehran does not comply with US demands regarding the Strait of Hormuz. Trump also warned that Washington would continue military pressure and expand attacks to additional targets if no agreement is reached, while previously threatening Iranian oil wells and desalination plants.