US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the quantities of oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz have returned to their previous levels, stressing in return that Iranian oil exports have witnessed a sharp decline.
Trump added that Iran is suffering from hyperinflation, and said that “the Iranian currency is right,” as he put it, in reference to the economic pressures facing Tehran.
The US President’s statements coincided with an announcement by the Secretary of the Iranian National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, that Tehran is preparing to establish a “restricted zone” outside the Strait of Hormuz within the next few days.
According to Rezaei, the zone will start from the US naval blockade line and extend to areas in the Gulf, warning that “any ship that enters this new prohibited zone will be added to the sanctions list,” as he put it.
Regarding internal affairs, Rezaei denied rumors about the existence of a shortage of basic materials inside Iran as a result of sanctions and the economic blockade, describing this information as “false.”
These developments come in light of the escalation of tension around the Strait of Hormuz, in parallel with mutual American and Iranian measures related to navigation and energy movement in the region.
