WANA (Jul 14) – A senior military adviser has revealed that a comprehensive strategy to blockade the Strait of Hormuz was drafted 15 years ago at the direct request of Iran’s late Supreme Leader.

 

Speaking on a televised program, Major General Seyed Yahya Rahim Safavi, a military adviser to the leadership and former Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), praised the “wisdom and foresight” of the late Leader, detailing historical directives that shaped Iran’s current regional military posture.

 

The Hormuz Blockade Plan

According to Safavi, the directive was issued in 2011 during his tenure as a top military assistant and adviser.

 

“The martyred Leader asked me to prepare a plan to close the Strait of Hormuz within a month,” Safavi said. “I immediately traveled to Bandar Abbas, where we held meetings with Admiral Fadavi, then-Commander of the Navy; Hajizadeh, then-Commander of the Aerospace Force; and General Salami, then-Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC.”

 

The resulting comprehensive strategy extended well beyond the Persian Gulf, spanning the Gulf of Oman, the Red Sea, and into the Mediterranean Sea. Safavi noted that after the plan was presented to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, it was officially communicated to the late Dr. Hassan Firouzabadi, who was serving as the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces at the time.

 

“What is happening today in the Strait of Hormuz is just one part of a plan communicated about 15 years ago,” Safavi added, emphasizing that the leadership anticipated a day when Iran would need to leverage the strait as a geopolitical “tool of power.”

 

Mass Missile Production

Safavi also shed light on the origins of Iran’s massive missile stockpile, attributing the shift toward high-volume production to the late Leader’s directives in the late 1990s.

 

The 1997 Stockpile: Safavi recalled that during his time as IRGC chief in 1997, Iran possessed roughly 2,000 missiles.

 

The Directive: The late Leader deemed 2,000 missiles insufficient, instructing military leadership to scale production to “tens of thousands of missiles” to sustain months of potential warfare.

 

Vision for Scientific and Technological Advancement

Beyond military strategy, the Major General highlighted the late Leader’s focus on national development, education, and technological progress. Safavi concluded by noting that the leadership always envisioned Iran as a highly advanced nation that could serve as a model for other countries in the region.