Military personnel place a flag on a submarine during the Velayat-90 war games by the Iranian navy in the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran, on Dec. 27, 2011. (Reuters File photo)
TEHRAN, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- As long as Iran is able to export its oil via the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway would be open, Navy Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Ali Reza Tangsiri, said on Monday.
"We have already said as long as our oil is exported from the Strait of Hormuz and there is no obstacle to the departure and arrival of our ships," the waterway will remain open, Tangsiri was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.
"Iran, as the guardian of the Strait of Hormuz who has full control over it" should be able to sell its oil, he said, stressing that "this strait will be open if Iran can sell its oil."
The remarks by the IRGC commander were an allusion to the sanction grip of the United States over Iran's oil exports.
Iran had already threatened to block the flow of the oil from the waterway in case its oil exports diminish under U.S. sanction pressures.