Iranupdated 1h ago2 min read
Iran’s IRGC Navy Targets Four Vessels in Northern Persian Gulf, Warns U.S. Bases
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IRGC says four oil-tanker vessels hit in northern Persian Gulf and set ablaze. Three ships struck mines west of the Strait of Hormuz and damaged.
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IRGC claims seven vessels hit
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said four vessels involved in illegal oil transfers in the northern Persian Gulf were targeted simultaneously on Wednesday and caught fire after being struck. The IRGC Navy also said three other vessels collided with mines west of the Strait of Hormuz overnight and were stopped after sustaining damage and fire.
CENTCOM rejected the mine narrative, saying it had cleared the international waterways in the Strait of Hormuz of mines and that Iran uses missiles and drones in its aggression in the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC Navy framed its actions as a response to U.S. insistence that ships transit what it described as a mined passage, and it warned that the confrontation could extend to American bases in the region.
Competing accounts and threats
The IRGC Navy warned that if the American military continued its approach in the Strait of Hormuz, the scope of confrontation would expand to American bases in the region, and it described that as a serious warning.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said, according to Türkiye Today, that if the conflict starts again, cables, data centers and AI facilities could also come within range.
CENTCOM’s spokesman said, "Iranian claims that tankers are hitting naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz are false," and the spokesman added that it had cleared the international waterways of mines.
The U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington was not negotiating with Iran at the moment, and the statement in the sources tied that posture to the broader escalation around Hormuz.
Shipping risk and wider context
The International Maritime Organization’s tally in the sources recorded 119 confirmed maritime security incidents across the Middle East since hostilities began, with 24 seafarer fatalities.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations warning referenced an incident early yesterday when an unidentified tanker was struck by a projectile 11 nautical miles west of Bukha, Oman, and the fire was extinguished with the vessel subsequently anchoring.
The IRGC Navy said it would continue to manage and control the Strait of Hormuz, and it linked its operational posture to what it called Iran’s national support.
The sources also placed the latest IRGC claims alongside diplomatic and political movement, including the mention that US Envoy Witkoff was in St. Petersburg for talks that include the Iran file and that Pakistan’s army chief General Munir had completed mediation talks in Tehran.
