The military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Wednesday warned that Iran would sink American ships in the Strait of Hormuz if the United States decided to “police” the key shipping bottleneck.

The US is imposing a military blockade of the Strait of Hormuz after Iran blocked shipping during over six weeks of war in a conflict which is on hold as a fragile two-week ceasefire remains in place.

“Mr Trump wants to become the police of the Strait of Hormuz. Is this really your job? Is this the job of a powerful army like the US?” Mohsen Rezaei, a former commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards who was named as a military adviser by Khamenei last month, told state TV.

“These ships of yours will be sunk by our first missiles and have created a great danger for the US military. They can definitely be exposed to our missiles and we can destroy them,” Rezaei, wearing his military uniform, told the state broadcaster.