Iran moves to close remaining oil-smuggling routes through Hormuz as military officials stress missile capabilities and preparedness for a long war.

TEHRAN -- Iran declared Wednesday that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and warned it will "soon" seal off the last remaining smuggling routes through the waterway, as a senior Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) commander said Tehran's missile range is limited only by policy — not technical capability — and the army's chief spokesman said the armed forces are prepared for a long war.

Brigadier General Muhammad Reza Naghdi, senior advisor to the IRGC commander-in-chief, told Al-Alam television that the strait is shut and under complete Iranian control, and that this situation will continue "until Iran's legitimate demands are met".

"The Strait of Hormuz is closed, and the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have complete control over it," Naghdi said. "The volume of smuggled oil is extremely small, and it cannot be said that the Strait of Hormuz is open for such activities. We will also address this issue."

Naghdi said some actors are using small vessels to smuggle oil and transfer it to tankers, and that "a small number of routes created by individuals engaged in illicit activities, by blasting and destroying sections of rocky passages in the Strait of Hormuz, will soon be blocked".

The strait has been shut since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran that began in February. Tehran demands sovereignty over the waterway in cooperation with Oman and without U.S. interference, and has repeatedly welcomed regional participation.

Naghdi also said Iran's limited weapons range is not due to technical constraints but is a matter of policy, determined by officials and the Leader of the Islamic Revolution according to need.

"Whenever the officials and the Leader of the Revolution grant us permission, we will increase the range of our weapons in accordance with the needs of the battlefield," he said, adding that because Iranian weapons are domestically produced, "we can increase their range and power in line with the necessities and needs of the battlefield".

Brigadier General Muhammad Akraminia, spokesman for the Islamic Republic of Iran's Army, said the capacity for continuous production of equipment and weapons, alongside existing stockpiles, has made the armed forces ready for a long war.

"From the beginning, it was assumed that the war might continue for years; therefore, army forces were prepared in such a way that if the war is prolonged, they would have both the capacity to produce equipment and weapons and the ability to use them sufficiently on the battlefield," Akraminia said.

He said that during the war, production continued alongside the use of domestically produced weapons, "and for this reason, weapons stockpiles did not decrease".

After the ceasefire, "this opportunity was used to strengthen stockpiles and increase readiness so that in the event of a possible war, sufficient weapons would be at the disposal of the armed forces".

Akraminia said the enemy's weakness lies in a long, attritional war, "while the resilience of Iran's armed forces on the battlefield is higher". He said production centers are dispersed across different, secure locations in the country, drawing on past war experience to select safer sites.

The army spokesman said recent wars have clarified equipment weaknesses and new requirements, pointing to "standoff warfare" — the U.S. tactic of relying on long-range capabilities.

"America's combat tactics and techniques are largely known to the armed forces, and it has become clear that an important part of their operations rests on the use of standoff capabilities," he said, adding that the army has moved toward equipment usable in standoff warfare that can target the enemy at distant points.

Akraminia said both offensive and defensive capabilities have been strengthened, with long-range missiles and drones improved in quantity and quality, and air defense systems reinforced given the enemy's focus on aircraft and missiles.

New systems have entered the combat organization, he said, noting that in recent weeks "cases of confronting enemy drones in the Strait of Hormuz area have been observed, indicating an increased level of readiness of air defense forces".

"The field of war is not an area where a specific limit can be set for combat capability, and the armed forces must continuously increase their readiness," he said.