TEHRAN -- Deputy Navy Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri said that Iran will not close the strategic Hormuz Strait in Persian Gulf as long as it uses the waterway, the official IRNA news agency reported on Monday.

It is against common sense to close the strait while the Islamic republic is using the waterway, Tangsiri was quoted as saying.

"We are present in this waterway anyway and if we can not use it, we will allow no one else to do so," Tangsiri said.

Iran will never give up its control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the IRGC commander said on Sunday in the port city of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.

Some Iranian government and military officials have already threatened to use all levers, particularly the Strait of Hormuz, if increased Western sanctions over Tehran's controversial nuclear activities halt Iran's exports and hurt the interests of the Islamic republic.