Iran’s Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia has told state television that Washington was trying to impose an unauthorised shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, contrary to the Islamabad MoU that assigns control of transit arrangements to Iran, Mehr News Agency reports.

“We are standing behind this with full authority and will firmly defend the rights of the Iranian people as stipulated in the agreement.”

Akraminia has said the army never trusted the Americans and had used the ceasefire to boost readiness and combat capability.

He has said the US should consider its regional allies and not expose them to further insecurity, warning that “whenever they have taken action against Iran, they have received their response, and the same happened last night”.