US, Israel took global economy hostage by war on Iran: Envoy

The Iranian ambassador to Japan has predicted further rising oil prices, saying the United States and the Israeli regime keep taking the global economy hostage by their acts of aggression against the Islamic Republic.

Peyman Saadat made the remarks in an interview with Russia’s TASS news agency published on Thursday amid escalating tensions caused by renewed Israeli and American attacks, which prompted Iran to launch retaliatory strikes and shut the Strait of Hormuz to all vessels.

He said that the strategic waterway, through which a fifth of global oil passed before the military aggression was waged in February, used to be open prior to the imposed war on Iran, but the US and Israel “changed everything.”

“The Strait of Hormuz became a battlefield, while they effectively took the global economy hostage,” he added.

"If they (the aggressors) continue like this, we will certainly respond, and it will be their fault and their problem,” Saadat said.

He further warned that oil prices could rise to $150-200 per barrel if US-Israeli attacks continue on Iran.

Saadat also reiterated Iran’s right to self-defense, saying the country will defend itself in any way it deems necessary.

“It is their fault, not ours. It is not us [acting] near the United States; it is the United States acting in our region," the envoy asserted.

Iran’s top military command orders closure of Strait of Hormuz to all vessels after fresh US aggression

Iran

The unjustified US-Israeli aggression on Iran began on February 28. In response, the Iranian Armed Forces targeted sensitive and strategic American and Israeli targets throughout the region and restricted transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's brave resistance led the war to spiral out of the aggressors’ control, causing regional destabilization, rising oil prices, and a global economic shock.

On April 8, forty days into the war, an Islamabad-brokered ceasefire went into effect. However, the first round of Tehran-Washington negotiations failed to reach an agreement, with the latter imposing an inhumane “naval blockade” of Iran.

Since then, both Israel and the US have violated the truce, sparking Iran’s retaliatory attacks and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

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