.jpg)
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy said it struck four vessels transferring oil ship to ship in the northern Persian Gulf, Hamshahri Online reported on October 22.
The IRGC said all four vessels were hit at the same moment and are burning.
It did not name the ships, their flags or their owners, and gave no casualty figures. The claim cannot be verified.
The statement presents the Strait of Hormuz as a waterway the IRGC navy manages and controls. It says the four vessels had earlier used illegal routes despite warnings to shipping companies.
Three more vessels caught fire and stopped overnight after hitting mines west of the strait, it said. It blames Washington for steering ships into a mined passage, which it says causes more accidents by the day.
The IRGC warned that if the US persists, confrontation will extend to what it called aggressor bases in the region. It described the message as a serious warning.
The US and Iran have been at war since late February, and Iran effectively closed Hormuz when the fighting began.
Donald Trump announced on July 13 that the US would reinstate a blockade on Iranian shipping, barring Iranian vessels and ships serving Iranian customers from the strait, and said it would levy 20% on cargo.
US Central Command says forces have diverted 70 commercial ships, disabled three and boarded two since the blockade resumed on July 14.
The IRGC runs its own permit system, charging up to $2mn a tanker for a corridor near Larak Island, and Chinese-flagged ships have kept using it.
Iran's foreign ministry has defended its Hormuz blockade and tanker strikes as lawful self-defence. Three Iranian tankers have left the blockade in the first crude exports in two months.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has called the blockade and the widening sanctions a "one-two punch" meant to force Tehran to reopen the strait.
No comments:
Post a Comment