A senior Iranian official threatened to destroy American naval vessels patrolling the Strait of Hormuz and claimed a U.S. ground invasion would benefit Iran by producing billions of dollars in hostage revenue.

Mohsen Rezaee, a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and current senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, made the statements on Iranian state television.

“These ships of yours will be sunk by our first missiles,” Rezaee said, addressing Trump directly. “They can definitely be exposed to our missiles and we can destroy them.”

Rezaee pushed back against assessments that Iran’s navy has been severely degraded, questioning why the U.S. has not attempted to cross the strait. He asserted that Iran would not relinquish control of the waterway until its demands are met, and declared that Tehran — not Washington — is setting the terms of any future agreement.

On the prospect of a U.S. ground invasion, Rezaee went further, claiming Iran would welcome it. “We would take thousands of hostages,” he said, “and for each hostage we would get a billion dollars.” He also said he opposed extending the current ceasefire.

The statements came as the Pentagon dispatched more than 10,000 additional troops to the Middle East, according to the Washington Post. Approximately 6,000 are aboard the USS George H.W. Bush carrier strike group, with around 4,200 more expected to arrive by the end of the month. The carrier will join the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald Ford, both already operating in the region.

Last month, the U.S. was reported to be weighing ground deployment options that could include securing the Strait of Hormuz, Kharg Island, or safeguarding Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

Despite the escalatory rhetoric, diplomatic activity continues. A second round of peace talks is reportedly being arranged in Pakistan, following a first round last weekend that included 21 hours of negotiations but ended without an agreement. The White House said the administration remains optimistic about reaching a deal.

Trump said Wednesday the war is “very close to being over.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)