Iran's Revolutionary Guards say seven vessels were hit in the Gulf and threaten US bases; Trump says Iran is 'making up fake hits'
The IRGC Navy said four ships transferring oil were struck and three hit mines near the Strait of Hormuz, without naming them, and warned that continued US escorts would extend the conflict to US bases. President Donald Trump accused Tehran of inventing the attacks.
Neither Iran’s claims nor the US denial can be independently confirmed.
The naval arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Thursday 22 October that four vessels carrying out ship-to-ship oil transfers in the northern Persian Gulf were struck at the same time on Wednesday and caught fire, and that three more vessels hit naval mines west of the Strait of Hormuz, gCaptain reported, citing Reuters. Iran did not identify the ships, their owners or the American company it said they were working for. The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO) had not issued incident reports matching the claims.
The IRGC also warned the United States over its escorts of commercial ships through the strait. “The US military must know that if this trend continues, the conflict will extend to its bases in the region,” it said in a statement on its Sepah News website, AFP reported. “This is a serious warning.”
President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that Iran was trying “to drive up the price of Oil prior to the U.S. Midterm Election” and was “making up fake hits, mines, and everything else”. He said more oil was passing through Hormuz than before the conflict.
On 18 October, the Joint Maritime Information Center said there was “no substantiation” for earlier Iranian claims that two supertankers had hit mines, and US Central Command has rejected previous Iranian mine claims as false, gCaptain reported. UKMTO recorded 254 transits in the seven days to 14 October, about 70% below pre-conflict levels, while The Wall Street Journal reported oil flows through Hormuz at about 82% of pre-war levels.
Background: war involving Iran broke out in February. The US military has been escorting ships through the strait in growing numbers and maintains a naval blockade of Iranian ports, while talks to end the conflict are deadlocked, AFP reported. See also: Araghchi says Hormuz stays closed until conditions are met.
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