A senior Iranian official has warned that Tehran would regard any South Korean troop deployment to the Strait of Hormuz as participation in a war.
Al Mayadeen, a pro-Hezbollah outlet in Lebanon, reported the remarks on the 4th.
According to the report, a senior official in Iran's security and political apparatus said in an interview that South Korea should not yield to pressure to cooperate with what the official called illegal U.S. military operations. The official said the root cause of instability in the Strait of Hormuz was aggressive conduct by the United States and Israel, and urged Seoul not to sacrifice its own interests and reputation for Washington.
The official said that if South Korea confronted Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, it would amount to direct military aggression and participation in a war, adding that Iran would not stand by in the face of any collusion that infringes on the rights of Iranians. Restoring regional security would be impossible as long as U.S. intervention and the economic blockade against Iran continue, the official said.
Iran's Fars News Agency also carried the remarks, citing Al Mayadeen. Fars reported that the South Korean Presidential Office, while saying nothing had been decided in response to pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, had signaled the possibility of deploying a search-and-rescue unit to the Strait of Hormuz.
An official at the Presidential Office said on the 4th that South Korea could maneuver within a range that does not significantly damage its defense posture on the Korean Peninsula. The official said the government was reviewing the matter from multiple angles to find a way to make a practical contribution, with the peninsula's defense posture as the top priority.
