Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said four ships were hit during oil transfers and three more by mines west of the Strait of Hormuz, warning U.S. guidance could widen the regional confrontation.
The IRGC Navy’s Public Relations Office accused the United States of urging vessels into a passage it described as unauthorized and mined. It said continued U.S. encouragement could extend the confrontation to bases in the region and called its message “a serious warning.”
In its Oct. 22 statement, the Navy said its forces attacked four ships while they were transferring oil between vessels in the north-central Persian Gulf, after the ships used a route it called unauthorized. It reported that all four were burning after the attack. The statement gave no ship names, flags, crew counts or cargo volumes.
The Navy described a second episode west of the strait, saying mine blasts overnight left three other ships ablaze and unable to proceed. Reuters reported that the four-vessel episode took place Wednesday, Oct. 21.
The Associated Press said it could not independently verify the Guard’s vessel accounts. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) logged 120 confirmed maritime incidents in the Middle East and 24 seafarer deaths by Oct. 22. Its tracker’s latest entries were dated Oct. 20 and did not include the seven reported events.
The Associated Press has described Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz as leverage in talks with Washington. FXStreet reported West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude at $99.10 a barrel, up 1.54% on the day, in a market snapshot at 2:49 a.m. ET (06:49:03 GMT) on Oct. 22.
