Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they were waiting for US forces to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway where traffic remains strangled as the regional war rages, AFP reports.

“We are waiting for their presence,” said Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini, after the US energy secretary announced the Navy was preparing to escort ships through the strait “as soon as it’s reasonable to do it”.

“We recommend that before making any decision, the Americans remember the fire of the American supertanker Bridgeton in 1987 and the oil tankers that were recently targeted,” Naini said, according to Fars news agency.