Tarek Chouiref
16 April 2026•Update: 16 April 2026
A top military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader warned Wednesday that Iran would sink American ships in the Strait of Hormuz if the US moves to “police” the strategic waterway.
Mohsen Rezaei said in remarks carried by Iranian state television that the US has no role in controlling the strait.
“Mr. Trump wants to become the police of the Strait of Hormuz. Is this really your job? Is this the job of a powerful army like the US?” Rezaei said, referring to US President Donald Trump.
“These ships of yours will be sunk by our first missiles and have created a great danger for the US military. They can definitely be exposed to our missiles and we can destroy them,” he added.
Rezaei said that it would be “great” if the US launched a ground invasion of Iran, as “we would take thousands of hostages and then for each hostage we would get a billion dollars.”
He added that “I am not in favor of extending the ceasefire at all, and this is a personal view.”
Rezaei is a former commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei appointed him as his top military adviser last month.
The US has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports following rare direct talks between Washington and Tehran in Pakistan over the weekend aimed at ending the war that began on Feb. 28 but which failed to produce an agreement.