The United States Navy vowed on Thursday to protect oil routes and international navigation in the Hormuz Strait after Iran threatened to block oil shipments. The head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards had said on Thursday his forces were ready to block the Strait of Hormuz, which links the Gulf to the open sea. Mohammad Ali Jafari said the Guards was ready to implement Irans threat to block the strait and that if Iran cannot sell its oil under the US pressure, no other regional country will be allowed to. "We are hopeful that this plan expressed by our president will be implemented if needed ... We will make the enemy understand that either all can use the Strait of Hormuz or no one,” he was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency. The strait is the most important oil transit channel in the world with about one fifth of global oil consumption passing through each day. “The US and its partners provide, and promote security and stability in the region,” Central Command spokesman Navy Captain Bill Urban said in an email to Reuters. Asked what would be the US naval reaction if Iran blocks the strait, he said: “Together, we stand ready to ensure the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce wherever international law allows.” The Guards’ naval arm lacks a strong conventional fleet. However, it has many speed boats and portable anti-ship missile launchers, and can lay mines. Separately, Iranian OPEC Governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili stated that US President Donald Trump’s tweets, who recently called on OPEC producers to help reduce oil prices, has raised prices through his tweets, reported the SHANA news agency on Thursday. “Your tweets have increased the prices by at least $10. Please stop this method,” the oil ministry news agency quoted him as saying. Kazempour Ardebili said Trump was trying to intensify tensions between Iran and the region and he called on the United States to join world powers in a meeting with Iran in Vienna on Friday. Foreign ministers from the five remaining signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers will meet Iranian officials in Vienna to discuss how to keep the accord alive after the US withdrawal from the pact in May.