Iran's Revolutionary Guard: U.S. Land Blockade Plan Is "Nothing More Than Wordplay"... Iraq Closes Border

U.S. Forms Iron Gate Task Force for Land Blockade
Iraq Closes Border Crossings; Protests Erupt in Some Areas

AP-Yonhap News

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) denounced the "Iron Gate" operation, a plan to impose a land blockade following the U.S. naval blockade of Iran, as nothing more than empty wordplay with no practical effect. The closure of the Iraqi border, where import and export traffic had become concentrated after the U.S. naval blockade, is making it increasingly difficult for Iran to export crude oil and secure essential goods.

On Nov. 8 local time, Hossein Mohebi, a spokesperson for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said through the semi-official Fars News Agency, "The U.S. Iron Gate plan is nothing more than wordplay," adding, "The United States cannot achieve its goal of bringing down Iran's economy by applying strong economic pressure through this plan."

Mohebi said, "The United States is pursuing an economic blockade under plans with various names, but it will never be able to impose a blockade on the scale it wants." He added, "The United States previously claimed that 'Iran's economy would collapse within two weeks,' but, as we have seen, that did not happen."

The U.S. Central Command said in a statement on Nov. 8 that it was establishing an Iron Gate task force (TF) within the command, comprising about 20 civilian personnel and military members. The command explained that "the Iron Gate TF will work with other U.S. government agencies to block the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use civilian and military technologies, and sanctioned goods across Iran's land borders and the Caspian Sea, as well as the flow of illicit funds."

The U.S. government has reportedly already asked the Iraqi government to close border areas where Iranian import and export traffic had become concentrated following the U.S. naval blockade of Iran. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said in an interview with Al Jazeera on Nov. 8 that "the U.S. Treasury Department asked Iraq to close all but two border crossings into Iran as part of its economic pressure policy against Iran."

After Iraq closed the border crossings at the United States' request, commercial freight transport and passenger traffic to Iran were completely halted. Al Jazeera reported that protests against the closures were held in Iraqi border areas, and that armed clashes have continued in some regions, including Maysan Province.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.