WASHINGTON, October 17 (ANI) — U.S. Admiral Brad Cooper said Friday that Iran was facing a financial crunch and was unable to fund its proxy militias as Washington blocked its maritime trade.
In a statement posted on X by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), Cooper said the United States had dealt severe blows to Iran’s finances.
“Iran has no exports or imports by sea. The sum total of these actions has imposed a devastating cost on Iran’s security apparatus and IRGC specifically. In recent months, CENTCOM, in close coordination with U.S. agency partners, has delivered severe blows to the Islamic regime and the IRGC in three important areas,” Cooper said.
CENTCOM claimed that Iran had lost $25 billion as its oil exports were disrupted. The United States also said it had frozen $350 million in cryptocurrency.
The CENTCOM commander said Iran was experiencing shortfalls across multiple sectors, including energy and oil, steel and heavy industry, manufacturing, automotive, aviation, construction, security and the military.
Asserting U.S. control over the Strait of Hormuz, Cooper said, “In seven days alone, 400 ships have sailed through the Strait. U.S. has also assisted Gulf partners in shipping over 100 million barrels of crude oil during the same period, adding to more than 1.3 billion barrels we have helped allies to ship in the recent months.”
While the United States claims to control the strategic waterway, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said earlier Saturday that an “illegal supertanker” carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil had been struck by a sea mine while attempting to pass through what it described as the “unauthorised” Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s ISNA news agency reported that the incident caused an explosion and a severe fire.
According to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations’ weekly review, 135 such incidents have occurred amid the Iran-U.S. conflict in the Strait of Hormuz. Both the United States and Iran have asserted control over the strategic shipping route. (ANI)
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