A commander in Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said that the Persian Gulf is “under the full control” of Iran’s military and US ships are “not a concern,” even as the US claimed victory in the Iran standoff.

“Over the years, our forces have completely surrounded the Persian Gulf, so that they (the Americans) need our permission to move in this area,” Ali Fadavi, deputy commander of the IRGC, said on Wednesday, according to Iran’s Fars News Agency.

Washington would likely dispute Fadavi’s claim that Iran has the Lincoln – a 100,000 ton behemoth carrying 90 aircraft and multiple batteries of missiles – under control, but the United States has made similar claims itself during the recent standoff.

Fresh from threatening the “official end of Iran” on Sunday, Trump seemed to reverse course on Monday, declaring there was “no indication that anything is happening or will happen,” presumably pleasing the almost two-thirds of Americans who oppose preemptive strikes on Iran, and sorely disappointing hawkish adviser John Bolton.

Washington swiftly got to work spinning the statement, with acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan crediting the carrier deployment with scaring the Iranians into compliance, a statement remarkably similar to Fadavi’s boastful claim.

“Our prudent response, I think, has given the Iranians time to recalculate,” Shanahan said on Tuesday.

Washington swiftly got to work spinning the statement, with acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan crediting the carrier deployment with scaring the Iranians into compliance, a statement remarkably similar to Fadavi’s boastful claim.

“Our prudent response, I think, has given the Iranians time to recalculate,” Shanahan said on Tuesday.

Source » rt