MEMRI TV: General Alireza Tangsiri, the commander of the IRGC's navy, said in an August 12 interview on the pro-Hizbullah Mayadeen TV (Lebanon) that the Persian Gulf should remain an international shipping channel and that its security should be entrusted to Iran and Oman.

He said that the presence of British and American ships in the Persian Gulf has disrupted security in the region and he claimed that Britain and the U.S. have been "weaving scenarios" in order to justify their illegal colonial presence in the region, in order to continue their exploitation of Middle Eastern countries, and in order to create a pretext for an Israeli presence in the Persian Gulf. He threatened that an Israeli presence in the Gulf could ignite a war in the region, and he warned that Iran is capable of seizing any ship in the Persian Gulf, even if it is part of a joint American-British military convoy.

In addition, General Tangsiri denied Iranian involvement in any attacks against tankers in the Persian Gulf, claiming that the attacks were staged by the Americans, and he said that Iran seized Stena Imperio, the British oil tanker, because it was not complying with international law.

General Tangsiri further denied that the Grace 1, a tanker carrying Iranian oil that was seized in Gibraltar by Britain, was headed to Syria, and he said that Iran will release the Stena Imperio if Grace 1 is released. General Tangsiri added that Iran will secure oil exports in the region as long as it can export its own oil, as well.