Hussein Moheibi, a spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said his country’s strategy is to keep the Strait of Hormuz under control until the United States accepts Tehran’s conditions.

He said the strait was no longer merely a waterway but had become an “arena of conflict.”

The remarks come amid disagreements between Washington and Tehran over freedom of navigation and security in the strait, following Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s announcement that reopening the waterway would be conditional on a number of demands, including compensation from the United States for violating the memorandum of understanding signed in Islamabad.