Tehran, April 29 (IANS) The continued US maritime “piracy and banditry” in the form of naval blockade against Iran will soon be met with “practical and unprecedented military action,” Iran’s state-run Press TV reported on Wednesday.

Iran’s armed forces maintain that “patience has limits,” and a “punishing response” will be necessary if the United States continues its “illegal” naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, it said, citing a high-ranking security source, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the source, if the US “obstinacy and delusions” continue, and Iran’s conditions are rejected, the “enemy” should soon expect a different kind of response to the naval blockade, “which is akin to maritime banditry.”

Meanwhile, in reaction to the US seizures of Iranian ships in international waters, Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani has said such actions constitute “illegal coercion and interference in legal trade,” the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Wednesday.

Iravani made the remarks in a letter addressed to the UN and Security Council, describing the US seizures of Iranian vessels as “maritime piracy.”

US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, in a recent post on X, explicitly confessed to the US seizures of two vessels named M T Majestic and M T Tiffany and “stealing” of 3.8 million barrels of Iranian oil carried by them.

The United States imposed its anti-Iran blockade on the Strait of Hormuz after post-ceasefire negotiations with Tehran in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on April 11 and 12 failed to lead to an agreement.

The ceasefire between Iran, the United States and Israel took effect on April 8 following 40 days of fighting, which started on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched joint attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities, killing Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, senior commanders, and civilians.

Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes targetting Israel and US bases and assets in the Middle East, and tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz.

–IANS

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