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Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility on Friday for setting an oil tanker ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz and threatened to pursue vessels it deems in violation beyond the strait and across the wider region, as maritime security agencies reported two further strikes on commercial ships in the Persian Gulf.
The IRGC Navy said it targeted the engine room and propulsion system of the MV Sun Shine, a tanker belonging to the company Natwit, after the vessel attempted to use what it described as an unauthorised route through the strait’s southern section. The attack caused a fire on board.
In a statement, the IRGC warned that action against “violating” vessels would no longer be confined to the Strait of Hormuz and that any ship using what it deems unauthorised routes would be pursued and “punished” anywhere in the region.
Companies it accuses of co-operating with the US would be sanctioned and all their vessels targeted, it added.
The IRGC laid blame for the incidents in the strait on the US military, accusing Washington of interfering in the decisions of shipping and insurance companies and paying “large bribes” to induce compliance.
“Direct responsibility for these incidents and the escalation of tensions in maritime transport in the region lies with the aggressive US army,” the statement said.
Tehran’s Friday prayer leader separately told his weekly sermon that the strait would remain closed until Iran’s conditions were fully met.
Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Javad Ali-Akbari said Iran had set out “seven conditions” and would decide its next steps once they were met, adding that military readiness had improved, weak points had been addressed, and Iran’s strategy had shifted from defence to offence.
Iran has said it controls the Strait of Hormuz and will not permit military forces from hostile countries in the area, vowing to respond “decisively” to any attempt to disrupt its management of the strait.
Lanes clear, CENTCOM says
US Central Command said on Friday it had cleared the strait’s main shipping lanes, removed naval mines from principal transit routes, and declared them open to all vessels not in violation of US maritime sanctions against Iran.
Thousands of commercial ships had passed through safely as a result, CENTCOM said.
The competing claims came as the UK Maritime Trade Operations centre reported that an LPG carrier was struck by unknown projectiles on Friday morning, 13 nautical miles west of Al-Jazira in the United Arab Emirates, causing a major fire that was later brought under control.
UKMTO had reported the previous day that an oil tanker north of Qatari waters was struck by several projectiles resulting in casualties, in the first such attack in six months.
In a separate incident on Thursday, the maritime intelligence company Vanguard reported that a tanker had caught fire roughly 40 kilometres off Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman, identifying the vessel as probably the Dalkut, sailing under the Marshall Islands flag.
At least 12 attacks, attempted attacks or harassment incidents targeting oil tankers and gas carriers were recorded in the strait between 28 September and 5 October, the highest weekly figure since the war began on 28 February, according to media reports.
The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas shipments normally pass, has been effectively closed since the outbreak of the war, following Iranian missile and drone strikes on commercial vessels and a US Navy blockade of Iranian ports.
The latest data indicate that oil exports from other countries in the region, excluding Iran, have returned to pre-war levels in recent days.