Iran Says Four Persian Gulf Ships Were Struck, Three Hit Mines West of Hormuz

On Thursday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said seven vessels had been hit in Gulf waters, including four it accused of illegal oil transfers, and warned U.S. forces of a wider response if provocations continued.

The IRGC Navy said it tracked the four vessels in the northern Persian Gulf before striking them; all four caught fire. It also said three ships struck mines west of the Strait of Hormuz.

The warning named U.S. regional bases as possible targets if U.S. forces continued what Iran called provocations. The reported attacks and threat raise risks for commercial shipping around Hormuz and energy markets.

The IRGC Navy had previously made passage through the strait conditional on permission. It warned of mines on June 21 and declared the Strait of Hormuz closed on July 12. In June, the Navy also said it viewed tankers moving without coordination as cooperating with the enemy and intercepted them.