"Given Iran's authority over the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway to more than 40 percent of the world's energy, we have become so strong that the world's economic and energy security are in the hands of Iran," deputy Basij commander General Majid Mir Ahmadi was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.

"We can exert pressure on the US and British economies as much as we ourselves are put under pressure," he said.

"US allies, especially those who host US military sites or facilitate American strategies against us, are exposed to our threat," Mir Ahmadi added.

"This is the Islamic republic's strategy in the Persian Gulf -- security for everyone or for nobody."

Iran is locked in an international standoff over its controversial nuclear program, which the West fears is a front to make nuclear weapons.

In December, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution imposing sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program for defying international calls to freeze uranium enrichment.

Iran vehemently denies charges it wants to manufacture nuclear weapons, insisting that it wants to enrich uranium purely for peaceful energy ends.

The country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Iran would not refrain from its right to use nuclear technology, shrugging off the UN resolution.

"The Iranian nation undoubtedly will not refrain from their right (to nuclear energy) and the country's officials do not have the right to refrain from the nation's right," Khamanei said, according to state television.

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