The IRGC says it struck four oil-transfer vessels and three more hit mines. Trump says the situation will resolve “fairly soon.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened on Thursday to widen the conflict to US bases in the region if Washington keeps urging ships through waterways Tehran says are mined. The Guards said they would “extend confrontation to US bases,” according to Al Jazeera.
The IRGC Navy said its forces struck four vessels involved in oil transfers in the northern Persian Gulf, setting them on fire after tracking them on Wednesday. It said three other vessels caught fire after colliding with mines west of the Strait of Hormuz. The claims come from Iranian state media and the IRGC, and were not independently confirmed in the reports reviewed.
President Donald Trump denied that negotiations with Iran were happening and said he expected the situation to be resolved fairly soon, without elaborating, Al Jazeera reported. The US and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late February, and the war has since reshaped shipping and security across the Gulf.
The fighting has also spread to Yemen, where Iran-backed Houthi forces are battling Saudi-backed government fighters. The World Health Organization says at least 1,574 people have been killed and 6,939 injured in Yemen since August, a total of 8,513 casualties.
This report draws on information from Al Jazeera, The New Arab and ANI.