Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they attacked two US ships, eight oil tankers and ten other vessels, in retaliation for US strikes that hit five Iranian oil tankers in the Gulf yesterday. «In response to the aggression of US military forces who attacked five Iranian oil tankers in the Persian Gulf – we read in a statement reported by the official IRNA news agency – the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy targeted 2 US ships and 8 oil tankers, inflicting considerable damage on them. Ten more boats hit.”
The escalation between Iran and the United States does not abate. Yesterday Iranian media reported an explosion near Kharg Island, one of Iran’s main oil hubs, while the Fars News agency, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported another explosion in the port city of Jask, in the Strait of Hormuz area.
The episode, however, has not yet been confirmed by the American military, which requires caution in reconstructing the events. Over the weekend, Tehran reportedly launched ballistic missiles against a US aircraft carrier and a missile destroyer.
The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials, that no American ships were hit during the attacks. The most worrying data for Washington, however, concerns the missile capabilities shown by Iran. The attacks would have highlighted the use of more sophisticated weapons systems, fueling fears that Tehran may have received or is receiving technological assistance from China or Russia.
The Strait of Hormuz thus returns to being one of the main points of tension in the Middle Eastern scenario. The sea passage, through which a significant share of global oil trade passes, represents a strategic infrastructure for the global economy and any military escalation in the area could have consequences far beyond the region’s borders. The explosions reported in Kharg and Jask, as well as the alleged attack on US naval units, remain to be verified through independent sources at this time. But the picture that emerges is that of growing military pressure between Washington and Tehran, with the risk that the Strait of Hormuz could once again transform into the main theater of a clash with international effects.