Russia, Iran Condemn US, Israeli Strikes on Iranian Naval Vessels Near Strait of Hormuz

U.S. Central Command announced on March 10 that American forces destroyed multiple Iranian naval vessels identified as minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz, saying in a post on X that “U.S. forces eliminated multiple Iranian naval vessels, March 10, including 16 minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz.”

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Business Standard

U.S. and media accounts framed the strikes as a preemptive response to a perceived mine threat: “According to a report by Axios citing a US official, the strike was a preemptive measure based on intelligence suggesting Iran was preparing to deploy naval mines in the strategic waterway.”

Kurdistan 24

Former President Trump also posted about the action, saying ten vessels had been destroyed “with more to follow,” while CENTCOM later confirmed that 16 vessels had been eliminated, underscoring the U.S. public narrative around the operation amid mounting regional tensions described in other reports as a sharp escalation.

Iran and Russia responded diplomatically and vocally, with a high-level phone call between Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about the 'severe deterioration' and 'sharp escalation' in the region.

Mehr News Agency reported that “Lavrov emphasized Russia's principled position on the need for the swiftest possible de-escalation and expressed Moscow's readiness to facilitate this process.”

Mehr News Agency

Business Standard likewise noted Araghchi accused the United States and Israel of military aggression and that Lavrov 'emphasising his condemnation of the US and Israel's military aggression against Iran,' while other reporting stressed that the exchange between Moscow and Tehran “highlights growing diplomatic tensions.”

U.S. officials justified the operation by stressing maritime security and the need to blunt Iran's capability to threaten shipping, with CENTCOM stating that “U.S. forces are degrading the Iranian regime's ability to project power at sea and harass international shipping. For years, Iranian forces have threatened freedom of navigation in waters essential to American, regional and global security and prosperity.”

At the same time, reporting shows the American account rests on intelligence assessments: “We thought the Iranians were planning to start laying the mines, so we took out many of the ships,” the US official told Axios.

Iran and Russia presented the strikes as part of a dangerous escalation and pushed diplomatic channels to reduce tensions.

Reports stressed the wider strategic and economic implications of any disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, noting that a mine deployment or broader hostilities could imperil commercial shipping and oil flows: Kurdish reporting said the deployment could pose “a serious threat to commercial shipping and potentially prevent oil shipments from passing through the strait, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil production moves.”

Business Standard framed the incident as having 'broader consequences of the conflict for regional and international stability,' while Moscow offered to use its 'good offices to strengthen regional security' as countries weighed the potential economic fallout.

Mehr News Agency

The reporting contains competing narratives and clear uncertainties: some outlets said Iran had begun laying mines 'although the activity was not extensive,' while U.S. sources and Trump warned of a larger threat even as he 'clarified that the United States had no confirmed reports that mines had been placed.'

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Business Standard

The Axios-cited official framed the action as preemptive—'We thought the Iranians were planning to start laying the mines, so we took out many of the ships'—but other accounts and the diplomatic exchanges between Tehran and Moscow underscore unresolved questions about what occurred at sea and how best to reduce the risk of wider confrontation, with calls for the U.N. Security Council to address alleged violations and for Russia to mediate de-escalation.

Kurdistan 24