Iran's Revolutionary Guards dismiss new US economic pressure plan as 'wordplay'
A spokesperson for Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Washington's new Task Force Iron Gate cannot blockade the Iranian economy or sever its trade routes, insisting Tehran has prepared for the pressure campaign.
By Amit Ricci ·
Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Sunday rejected a new American initiative aimed at tightening economic pressure on the Islamic Republic, arguing that the United States cannot shut down the country's trade routes because Tehran has prepared for such measures and stays in close contact with its neighbors.
Hossein Mohebbi, a spokesperson for the Guards, was responding to the US military's newly launched Task Force Iron Gate, which is intended to crack down on Tehran's movement of advanced weapons and other sanctioned material across its land borders and through the Caspian Sea.
"The Iron Gate plan is merely a wordplay, the Americans cannot achieve their objectives of imposing severe economic pressure to cause economic collapse in Iran through this approach," Mohebbi told the semi-official Fars news agency.
Task Force Iron Gate will be headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and will coordinate with other US government agencies. Alongside efforts to stop weapons transfers, it will target the flow of dual-use technologies destined for Iran and what Washington describes as illegal revenue streams.
The task force's creation is the latest sign that the United States is still looking for ways to raise pressure on Tehran, more than eight months after Washington and Israel launched a war against the Islamic Republic. Although American strikes have inflicted devastating damage on Iran's conventional military and a US naval blockade has severely curtailed its crude exports through the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea, Iran remains a formidable regional threat and its leaders have tightened their hold on the country.
State news agency IRNA reported on Saturday that Iran had claimed its forces emerged from the months of on-and-off conflict with the United States and Israel stronger and more confident.
Tehran has shown resilience and has openly gloated over US midterm election results that punished President Donald Trump's Republican Party and handed control of Congress to the opposition Democrats. Vice President JD Vance blamed the Iran war for the electoral rout and appeared to question whether the conflict had been worth it.
Mediators have stepped up efforts in recent days to end the war between Iran and the United States amid fears the fighting could reignite. Trump has threatened a fresh offensive against Iran, putting Gulf countries on edge because Tehran has warned it would retaliate broadly against Gulf infrastructure.
At the same time, US intelligence assessments in recent months have reportedly concluded that renewed strikes on Iran would not fundamentally alter Tehran's negotiating position or bring down its government.
