FNA - Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy General Alireza Tangsiri said 6 countries that have adopted a hostile approach towards Iran are not allowed to sail through the waters North of the Greater Tunb in the Persian Gulf.

"The warships of 6 countries, including the US, Britain, France, Canada, New Zealand (and Australia) , which are hostile towards the Islamic Republic are not entitled to sail in (waters) North of the Greater Tunb but the warships of other countries can move in this area and pass through it with (Iran's) permission," General Tangsiri said, addressing a ceremony in the Southern city of Abadan on Saturday night.


He underlined the Iranian naval forces' might in the Persian Gulf waters, and said they have twice arrested the US forces and twice the British forces who had entered the country's territorial waters without permission.


General Tangsiri also underscored Iran's full self-sufficiency in building defensive weapons for naval battles, and said, "We provide all our needs in area of military vessels by using indigenized know-how."


General Tangsiri had also in 2016 said that the US warships were warned to keep 12 nautical miles away from Iran's territorial waters or wait for an incident similar to what happened on January 12, same year.


"We have a strong presence in the quintuple regions of the South and our independent bases in the Sea of Oman, in such a way that foreign vessels never dare to approach regions 12 miles away from our territorial waters and if they do, they will be treated like what we did to the Americans (on January 12)," Tangsiri told FNA at the time.


The IRGC seized two US Navy boats on January 12, 2016, and detained them on Iran's Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf. Nine men and one woman arrived in Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf illegally when they were captured by the IRGC Navy. They were freed later after diplomatic consultations.