Maj. Gen. Mohammed Ali Jafari, commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, said his troops would immediately move to close off the Persian Gulf waterway should the United States or Israel bomb Iran's nuclear power sites, which the West suspects are fronts for producing a nuclear weapon.

"Naturally every country under attack by an enemy uses all its capacity and opportunities to confront the enemy," Jafari was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency. "Regarding the main route for exiting energy, Iran will definitely act to impose control on the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz."

Jafari predicted the economic consequences of closing the waterway would be heavy, saying, "After this action (of Iran imposing controls on the Persian Gulf waterway), the oil price will rise very considerably and this is among the factors deterring the enemies."

The Iranian commander also had a warning for Arab states that allowed their territory to be used by the West to launch an Iranian strike, promising they would face retribution.