The strait at the mouth of the Persian Gulf is crucial to global energy supplies. Rouhani also pledged that the United States wouldn't be able to prevent Iran from exporting its crude.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has made similar threats previously. (File)

Tehran: Iran President Hassan Rouhani has threatened again to close the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for nearly a third of all oil traded by sea.

“If someday, the United States decides to block Iran’s oil (exports), no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf,” the state TV quoted Rouhani as saying.

The strait at the mouth of the Persian Gulf is crucial to global energy supplies. Rouhani also pledged that the United States wouldn’t be able to prevent Iran from exporting its crude.

Rouhani has made similar threats previously, especially after President Donald Trump threatened to decrease Iran’s oil export to nil. His threat was welcomed by many Iranian officials, including hard-liners such as General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s powerful Quds Force.

- AP