Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Friday its naval forces struck and halted two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz after the vessels attempted to use a route that Tehran considers unauthorized while under U.S. military escort, according to Iranian state-linked media reports.
The IRGC claimed the tankers had ignored repeated warnings before attempting to transit what it described as an unsafe route, and that four additional tankers reversed course after similar warnings. A separate IRGC statement said two tankers attempting to use a "southern route" under direction from U.S. aircraft turned back after one caught fire, though the cause was not independently confirmed.
The claims could not be independently verified. Iranian state and state-aligned outlets have an interest in projecting military control over the strait, and their reporting on strikes and tanker movements has not been corroborated by independent maritime authorities, the U.S., or international shipping monitors at time of writing.
Tehran reiterated that the strait — one of the world's most important oil transit chokepoints — would remain closed to traffic outside Iranian-designated routes "as long as U.S. threats and interference" continue. Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority said passage remains impossible due to what it called ongoing U.S. military "aggressive actions," and that permits would resume once conditions stabilize.
Maritime tracking data cited by Iranian media, attributed to MarineTraffic, reportedly showed a sharp drop in confirmed transits through the strait, from 22 vessels one day to five the next — with all recorded transits reportedly using the Iranian-designated corridor. This figure has not been independently confirmed by MarineTraffic directly or by other tracking services.
The dispute traces back to a U.S.-Iran understanding reached earlier this year — referred to in Iranian statements as the "Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding" — which Tehran says recognized its authority over Hormuz shipping arrangements following the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran that began in February. Iran alleges Washington violated the agreement by establishing an alternate corridor near Omani waters, prompting the reimposition of restrictions.
The U.S. Treasury Department separately announced sanctions this week on 10 entities and eight tankers — including two Iranian firms Washington says are involved in facilitating Iran's collection of transit-linked revenue — along with entities based in China, Hong Kong, the UK, and the Marshall Islands.
Iran says its forces have also targeted U.S.-linked military installations in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, and Iraqi Kurdistan in retaliatory operations it has named Nasr 2 and Sa'eqeh, amid the broader conflict that has continued intermittently since February.