Iranian commanders say U.S. forces have been driven from the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz remains under full Iranian control, warning that any renewed attack would expand the confrontation to new fronts, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

TEHRAN -- Iran's military leadership declared on Tuesday that the United States has been driven out of the Persian Gulf, that the Strait of Hormuz remains under full Iranian control, and that any renewed American attack will open new fronts in the confrontation, as senior commanders warned Washington is seeking to dress up a defeat as victory.

"If we realize the enemy's attack is imminent, we will certainly carry out preemptive operations," Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Akram Amaninia told Al-Alam in an interview, describing a doctrinal shift from defense to offense that Iran has operationalized since the 12-day war.

"Preemptive war means preventing the enemy's attack before it acts — meaning before the enemy makes a move, it is targeted."

Amaninia said Iran used the ceasefire period to "update our target bank, optimize our equipment, introduce new equipment into our combat organization and draw on the reserves, experience and lessons of the war period," with the aim that "if another aggression takes shape, we can confront the enemy better, more crushingly and even more extensively than before."

U.S. Bases 'Beyond Reconstruction'

The army spokesman said American bases across the region have suffered "very serious" damage and that "most of these bases can no longer even be reconstructed."

He said fuel and food supply for U.S. forces has run into serious difficulty, particularly after damage to the Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain, forcing resupply from East Asia and Diego Garcia.

"From a morale and psychological standpoint, as you are aware, a number of their soldiers have committed suicide, and therefore they are not in a favorable position," Amaninia said.

"Our overall analysis is that the current situation is not favorable for America. For this reason, the Americans may want to create a change and carry out an attack."

He said Washington "has no clear strategy," adding that President Donald Trump "had not designed or formulated an exit strategy from this war. His assumption was that as soon as he entered the war, within a week at most, Iran's armed forces would collapse, the resistance would be destroyed and the people would take to the streets."

"But when they saw the resistance of the armed forces and the people's presence in the streets — and today it is the 210th night that they are stationed in the streets and participating in nightly gatherings — this in fact created a desperate situation for the Americans," he said.

'Not a Single American Vessel Remains'

IRGC spokesman Brig. Gen. Hussein Mohebbi said that before the 40-day Ramadan war, "we witnessed the presence of 30 to 40 American warships in the Persian Gulf, but today this situation has completely changed. The truth is that not a single American vessel remains in the Persian Gulf, and even in the U.S. Fifth Fleet stationed in Bahrain, there is not a single ship or small vessel there."

"American vessels have now withdrawn at least 500 kilometers from the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. Therefore, the current American threats are merely an attempt to portray an obvious defeat as a victory," Mohebbi said, adding that Washington will soon withdraw from the Arabian Sea as well.

"This is an unavoidable reality, because the U.S. Army fundamentally lacks the capability and structure necessary for a sustained and continuous war," he said.

"We saw an example of this erosion of military capability in the Abraham Lincoln and Gerald Ford and other American carriers. They have suffered attrition, and the exorbitant costs of presence in the region have reduced their endurance to a minimum."

'A New Front Will Open'

Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, a senior adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, said that if Iran is attacked again by the United States, "the confrontation will expand to new fronts."

He said Iran will continue to wield control over the Strait of Hormuz, which came under Iranian control in early March, days after the U.S. and Israel began their "illegal, unprovoked aggression."

Safavi suggested that transit in the Bab al-Mandab Strait in the Red Sea, where Yemeni forces hold significant control, "will also see restrictions in the future."

"The addition of the Bab al-Mandab Strait would change the scene of the war," he was quoted as saying by IRIB News.

He said the U.S. and Israel were "definitely defeated" in their war of aggression and failed to reach any objective, adding that most U.S. military assets in Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait were "either destroyed or suffered serious damage in Iran's decisive missile strikes."

He said CENTCOM is now headquartered in the Israeli occupied territories "after being pushed out of Qatar and then Jordan because of Iranian attacks."

Army Chief of Staff Deputy Coordinator Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari said that "the enemy does not disclose their casualties, because that is one of their weak points. For example, they say, 'We suffered eight fatalities.' Who would believe that, in the face of all the missiles and drones that we sent, only eight people were affected at their bases? It is simply impossible."

His remarks followed an NBC News report, citing three unnamed U.S. officials, that eight American Marines were injured two weeks earlier when an Iranian cruise missile attacked their ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Pentagon recently reduced its reported death toll after changing how it classified some service members' deaths, revealing last week that nine Marines and more than two dozen sailors were injured this month.

"The number of their dead and the number of their wounded is higher than that — much higher. That is certain and clear," Sayyari said, stressing Iran's enemies failed in all three wars: the 1980s imposed war, the 12-day war last June, and the 40-day war launched in February.

"Anyone who is the aggressor and fails to achieve their objectives has been defeated. We were not the aggressors; we defended ourselves and did not allow the enemy to achieve its objective. The enemy has been defeated, and we, as the defenders, have prevailed," he said. "The enemy will be expelled from the region in disgrace and humiliation."

Full Control of Hormuz

Sayyari said the IRGC Navy and other IRGC forces are "firmly stationed in the western part of the Strait of Hormuz, while the eastern part is the responsibility of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, which prevents all traffic except with authorization."

"The western part of the Strait of Hormuz, the strait itself, and the Persian Gulf are under the full control of the IRGC Navy, while the eastern part of the Strait of Hormuz and the northern Indian Ocean are under the full control of the Army Navy," he said, adding that despite enemy efforts to reopen the strait, "that hasn't happened."

Amaninia said traffic through Hormuz has dropped from more than 130 vessels and tankers before the war to a very limited number today.

"We are not in a hurry to manage the strait, but we stand firmly by the task of controlling the strait. An agreement with Oman on transit has been reached; a route has been designated for entry into and exit from the Persian Gulf. But the Americans are obstructing," he said.

"Iran is determined to exercise its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz."

He said Iran has "never targeted the people and infrastructure of regional countries," only U.S. bases, and later, in a very limited manner, infrastructure related to American companies after the U.S. targeted Iranian infrastructure.

Sayyari said Iran is engaged in a hybrid war encompassing military, economic, political, cultural and social dimensions.

"The entire Iranian people are soldiers in this war — in the military, economic, political, cultural and social arenas. Everyone is fighting," he said, adding that the enemy seeks to create despair, spread a negative portrayal, divide ethnic groups and use media extensively.

Amaninia said Iran has no wish for war to continue and has always declared that Saudi Arabia, by respecting the rights of the Yemeni people, can reach a compromise with Yemen.

On Yemen's gains, he said "almost all Red Sea coasts are now in the hands of Yemeni forces, and this is a very great achievement," adding that "the geopolitical situation of the region will be affected."

He said the army produced drones daily during the war "and we never needed to touch our reserves and warehouses," adding that a new drone beyond the Arash-2 was used but its specifications have not been publicized.

"A cheap $30,000 drone can inflict very serious damage on American air defense systems," he said.

On Hormuz, Mohebbi said: "We will not allow the aggressors to remain in the region. Our strategy is clear: until we expel America from the region, until we punish the aggressor and reach permanent deterrence so that no one dares attack Iran, we will not sit idle."