Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it is ready to respond to any threat or attack
The statement follows US troop reinforcements near the Strait of Hormuz and a tanker strike Iran blames on UAE-linked vessels
Published
Map: The Gulf and Hormuz, marking Strait of Hormuz
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it is ready to respond to any threat or attack. The statement adds no new operational detail and follows a pattern of similar Iranian rhetoric repeated for weeks without confirmed damage or casualties.
It comes after the United States reinforced forces near the Strait of Hormuz, a move that followed President Trump's rejection of Iran's latest ceasefire offer. That deployment came after a tanker strike in the strait that Iran blames on UAE-linked vessels. Mediators had said days earlier that a deal trading safe transit for an end to the blockade was gaining ground.
Brent crude held above $100 a barrel on Friday, extending Thursday's jump.
Iran has said it would allow nuclear inspectors back into the country if sanctions on it are eased, while separately denying that nuclear talks took place during recent meetings with mediators. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Trump told aides privately he expects to resume bombing Iran by the end of November. Given the run-up already built into Brent on the troop deployment and the tanker strikes, another general readiness statement from the Revolutionary Guard is unlikely on its own to push the price higher without a confirmed strike or incident to follow it.