Iran Guards say 'seized two violating ships' attempting to cross Strait of Hormuz

Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz, Musandam, Oman, April 22, 2026. STRINGER / REUTERS Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday, April 22, that their naval forces stopped two ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz and directed them to the territorial waters of the Islamic Republic. "The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval force this morning identified and stopped in the Strait of Hormuz two violating ships," the Guards said in a statement. "The two offending ships... were seized by the IRGC's naval forces and directed to the Iranian coast," it added. UK-based maritime security monitors confirmed that three commercial vessels had reported incidents involving gunboats in the strait, the international gateway for the Gulf oil and gas industry which US and Iranian forces are battling to control. They identified one ship as the Panama-flagged container ship MSC Francesca, IMO:9401116, and the Liberia-flagged Epaminodas, IMO:9153862 . The tracking site Marine Traffic showed the last known positions of both vessels closer to the Iranian coast of the strait, northeast of Oman. The Guards further warned against any action against the regulations imposed by the Islamic republic in the strait, "as well as activities contrary to the safe passage" through the waterway. Read more Subscribers only 'The Strait of Hormuz crisis shows that the seas are no longer spaces of freedom, but territories whose control comes at a price' Earlier, the British maritime security monitor UKMTO said one container ship reported it was fired upon by an IRGC boat 15 nautical miles northeast of Oman, causing damage to the bridge but no casualties. Separately, a third ship was fired upon and stopped in the water eight nautical miles west of the Iranian coast, UKMTO said, without identifying the attackers. British Security firm Vanguard Tech identified it as the Panama-flagged containership Euphoria, which it said was "transiting outbound of the Strait of Hormuz." The US Defense Department said Tuesday that US forces had intercepted and boarded a "stateless sanctioned" vessel. Before the latest attacks, Trump had said he had pushed back the end of the two-week truce following a request by Pakistani mediators and to give Iran's "fractured" leadership time to form a proposal. Read more Subscribers only Why Iran has yet to confirm its presence in Pakistan for a new round of negotiations with the US Le Monde with AFP