WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRG) urged civilians across the Middle East Friday to stay away from areas near US forces, ramping up its threats despite President Donald Trump’s claim talks to end the month-long war were “going well.”
The Guards’ warning came after Trump again extended a deadline for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its energy assets, pushing it from Friday to 6 April.
Trump said he did so at Tehran’s request, insisting the Islamic republic wanted “to make a deal” to end the war engulfing the region since the US and Israel first attacked Iran on 28 February.
The US also is weighing sending up to 10,000 extra troops to the Middle East, American media reported Friday, as speculation grows that Washington may be preparing a ground operation in Iran.
The troops would join thousands of paratroopers and Marines who have already been ordered to the region.
An Iranian official said Wednesday that Tehran would retaliate to a ground invasion of its territory by Washington by activating its Houthi rebels in Yemen to attack shipping in the Red Sea.
That would open up a new front in a war of spiralling economic, political and military repercussions.
Accusing “cowardly American-Zionist forces” of resorting to “human shields,” the country’s powerful Guards issued a stark warning to civilians.
“We recommend that you urgently leave locations where American forces are stationed so that no harm comes to you,” they said -- hours after Iran’s military threatened to target hotels housing US soldiers across the region.
The warning came as Kuwait said its main commercial port was damaged in a drone attack at dawn.
Strait closed
The Guards also said the Strait of Hormuz was “closed” to vessels traveling to and from enemy ports, and that they had turned back three ships seeking to cross the transit point.
“This morning, following the lies of the corrupt US president claiming that the Strait of Hormuz was open, three container ships of different nationalities... were turned back after a warning from the IRGC Navy,” the Guards said on their Sepah News website.
Trump’s reprieve over Hormuz capped days of conflicting signals on peace talks with Tehran, but his envoy Steve Witkoff spoke Thursday of “strong signs” it was ready to negotiate.
Negotiations revolve around a 15-point US “action list” relayed via Pakistan, to which Tehran has reportedly replied — and is awaiting a response.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency said Tehran was demanding war reparations and respect for its “sovereignty” over the Strait of Hormuz.