Iran strikes back in Hormuz: Six vessels targeted as Gulf tensions boil over

Iran has struck back at the United States in a sharp escalation of hostilities, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy saying it targeted six vessels in retaliation for US attacks on Iranian oil tankers earlier in the day.

According to the IRGC Navy, three oil tankers were hit while navigating the strategic Strait of Hormuz, while three US-affiliated vessels were targeted in other areas. The force said the tankers in the strait were using what it described as an “unauthorized” route.

In a stern warning carried by the IRGC’s official Sepah News outlet, Iran urged vessels operating in the Gulf and around the Strait of Hormuz to avoid what it called US deception and refrain from using unauthorized routes. Any suspicious movement through such routes, it warned, could invite further attacks.

The latest strikes came after Iran’s state-run IRIB reported that three Iranian oil tankers had been attacked by US forces off the country’s southern coast.

Iran’s military leadership responded with a warning that the confrontation could deepen dramatically if attacks on Iranian shipping and the US naval blockade continue.

Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said Iranian strikes against US military vessels in the region would become “more severe than before” and could expand if Washington persisted with what Tehran described as harassment of Iranian ships and a naval blockade.

The Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most vital energy corridors, has now emerged as a key flashpoint in the rapidly intensifying confrontation. Following US-Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February, Tehran restricted passage for vessels linked to the United States and Israel, while US forces imposed a naval blockade targeting ships moving to and from Iranian ports and coastal waters.

Adding another layer of tension, US President Donald Trump said Washington could soon strike Iran’s heavily fortified Pickaxe Mountain site near the Natanz enrichment facility. Trump claimed the underground location is being used to house part of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

At the same time, Trump sought to play down the scale of the confrontation, calling it a “military conflict” rather than a war and describing it as “small potatoes” for the United States.

But on the waters surrounding Iran, the rhetoric is growing increasingly combustible. With Tehran threatening harsher retaliation and Washington warning of further strikes, the Strait of Hormuz is rapidly becoming the stage for a dangerous new chapter in the US-Iran confrontation.

With IANS inputs