Iran’s President Pezeshkian has blamed the US and Israel for the ongoing blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, again defending the decision to keep out “hostile countries”, Al Jazeera reports.

In a message commemorating National Persian Gulf Day on state media, Pezeskhian said the waterway was “a symbol of the great Iranian nation’s resistance”.

“The responsibility for any insecurity in this water area lies with the United States and the Zionist regime.”