JAKARTA - A commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned on Tuesday that neighboring countries would be considered "hostile" if their territory was used to launch an attack on Iran, as the US aircraft carrier strike group moved into the Middle East waters.
"Neighboring countries are our friends, but if their land, airspace or waters are used to fight against Iran, they will be considered hostile," Mohammad Akbarzadeh, political deputy of the IRGC naval forces, was quoted as saying by the government-affiliated Fars news agency, reported Al Arabiya and AFP (28/1).
Akbarzadeh added that the message had been conveyed to regional countries.
The United States, which has several bases in the Middle East, has not ruled out military intervention against Iran over its crackdown on anti-government protests - which human rights groups say have left thousands dead - and President Donald Trump has sent the USS Abraham Lincoln to the region "on alert."
Akbarzadeh said Iran did not want war but was "fully prepared," warning that Tehran "would not retreat one millimeter" if a conflict erupted.
He also appeared to threaten a closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which passes about 20 percent of global oil supplies - a threat Iran has repeatedly made in the past but never carried out.
"Iran has real-time intelligence over the Strait of Hormuz, above and below the surface, and the security of this strategic route depends on Tehran's decisions," Akbarzadeh said.
"We don't want the world economy to suffer, but the Americans and their supporters will not benefit from the war they started," he said.
Since Iran launched a crackdown on protests earlier this month, accompanied by a total internet blackout, President Trump has given mixed signals about intervention, which some opponents of the clerical leadership consider the only way to bring about change.
The New York Times reported that President Trump has received several intelligence reports indicating that the Iranian government's grip on power is at its weakest point since the 1979 revolution.
On the other hand, human rights groups described the crackdown as the deadliest ever on protests in Iran, warning that the gathering of the number of victims had been complicated by an almost three-week internet blackout that they said was aimed at covering up the extent of the repression.
In its latest count, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had confirmed that 6,126 people had been killed, including 5,777 protesters, 86 minors, 214 members of the security forces, and 49 civilians.
But the group, which has an extensive network of sources inside Iran and has been tracking the protests daily since they began, added it was still investigating another 17,091 possible fatalities.
At least 41,880 people have been arrested, the group added.
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