TEHRAN, August 4. /TASS/. The Iranian armed forces control the movements of all ships entering the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, the commander of the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Alireza Tangsiri said on Wednesday.

"Today the strategic region of the Strait of Hormuz is under control. Any ship passing through is under observation," the news agency Mizan quotes Tangsiri as saying. "The enemy knows that its movements are being monitored and even in the case of an unintentional violation there will follow a serious warning that must be swiftly obeyed."

Tangsiri added that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had established full security on the maritime borders of the region of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. 

"The region's Muslim countries maintain the security of the Persian Gulf and there is no place for foreign forces," Tangsiri said.

He made this statement as the US, Britain and Iran have heightened their rhetoric over recent maritime incidents. On July 30, the UKMTO said the oil tanker Mercer Street, run by Zodiac Maritime and belonging to Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer, came under attack in that area. The foreign ministries of Israel and Britain and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken blamed the incident on Iran. Tehran dismissed these charges as groundless and politically motivated.

On Tuesday, the British TV broadcaster Sky News quoted sources in the British security services as saying the oil tanker Asphalt Princes had been seized off the United Arab Emirates. The Times said British secret services have not ruled out that the Iranian military or its allies might be behind the incident. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Said Hatibzade emphatically dismissed the speculations Iranian military personnel might board any ships.