The tanker came under fire from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards at 12:55 local time, about 20 nautical miles (roughly 37 kilometers) northeast of Oman, the BBC reported, citing the British Maritime Trade Operations Agency (UKMTO). According to her, the vessel and its crew are safe.
“The captain of the tanker reported that two gunboats opened fire without broadcasting a warning radio call,” UKMTO said.
In addition, the crews of two other merchant ships announced that their vessels were hit by fire while attempting to sail through Hormuz.
Meanwhile, the text of a statement attributed to Iran’s supreme leader Mojtab Khamenei appeared on the Telegram platform. “The Iranian Navy is ready to inflict another bitter defeat on the enemies,” says the text, which was written on the occasion of the establishment of the army of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The supreme leader asks for a blessing for the army
“May Almighty God rest upon all the mujahideen (fighters) of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, from its commanders and officers to the unsung and anonymous soldiers. May Almighty God rest upon all the selfless veterans and wounded soldiers of the army. And may God’s special mercy rest upon the honorable families of all the martyrs of this war imposed by the US and the Zionist regime (Israel) to the great Iranian nation,” Mojtaba Khamenei wishes in a statement.
It is supposed to come from the pen of the supreme leader, who, however, has not appeared in public since the beginning of the American-Israeli strikes on Iran. During the first attack on February 28, he was allegedly seriously injured and is disfigured. Nevertheless, Iranian sources claim that he participates in the leadership of the country and Iranian military operations.
The latest developments in the Strait of Hormuz are in stark contrast to Friday’s whirlwind of “good news” that US President Donald Trump flooded the world with. On his social network Truth Social, he claimed that Iran had agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz and that it would “never close it again.” He also claimed that Iran would hand over its “nuclear powder” to the United States, and then celebrated Friday as a “great and great day for the world” on the Truth Social.
But on Saturday, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bakr Kalíbaf, cooled any enthusiasm that Trump’s statement might have caused. He stated that all of Trump’s statements are false. In addition, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again.
Photo: European Union/copernicus Sentin, Reuters
A satellite image of the Strait of Hormuz taken during the Copernicus Sentinel mission.
