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Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Saturday issued a strong warning to US assets in the Persian Gulf, stating that any further aggression against Iranian oil tankers or commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz would trigger a "heavy assault" on American centres and military ships in the region.
The warning was issued by the IRGC Navy Command in a post on X, where it stated, "Warning! Any aggression against Iran's oil tankers and commercial vessels will result in a heavy assault against one of the American centres in the region and the enemy's ships." Following this, the IRGC Aerospace Force, in a separate post, stated that its missiles and drones have already been "locked onto American targets in the region" and on "enemy aggressor ships", adding that they are awaiting orders to fire. "IRGC Aerospace Force missiles and drones have locked onto American targets in the region and the enemy aggressor's ships. We are awaiting the order to fire," the post read. The comments come amid heightened regional tensions following exchanges of fire involving US naval assets and Iranian forces near the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy transit route. On Thursday, US President Trump confirmed the exchange of fire between American and Iranian naval forces in the Strait of Hormuz amid the ceasefire agreement between the two sides, asserting that three American destroyers successfully passed through the strategic waterway despite coming under attack. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said three US Navy destroyers "transited very successfully" out of the Strait of Hormuz, noting they were fired upon by Iranian forces during the passage. The US President further claimed that Iranian naval boats were "completely destroyed," adding that missiles and drones targeting the vessels were intercepted. Following this, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) on Friday said that the US naval forces disabled two more Iranian-flagged oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman as part of the ongoing US blockade measures against the Islamic Republic, while also redirecting 57 commercial vessels in the region. In a statement issued, CENTCOM said US forces disabled the Iranian unladen tankers M/T Sea Star III and M/T Sevda before the vessels could enter a port of the Islamic Republic on the Gulf of Oman. According to CENTCOM, a US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet operating from USS George HW Bush (CVN 77) fired precision munitions into the smokestacks of both unladen oil tankers, preventing them from reaching Iranian territory. Earlier, on May 6, the US forces disabled another Iranian-flagged tanker, M/T Hasna, as it attempted to sail to an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman. As of now, since April 13, the US CENTCOM has disabled four vessels in the region amid the blockade of Iranian ports, noting that it has redirected 58 commercial vessels during the same period. (ANI)
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