At least three vessels have been attacked by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard this Wednesday. Two of them have been redirected to Iranian ports for trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz without permission from the authorities of the Islamic Republic. The new escalation seems, to a large extent, a retaliation for similar operations by the US Navy, which in recent days has boarded several Iranian vessels in the waters of the Indian Ocean.
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The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that two container ships were fired upon in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz. In the first case, the captain of the vessel — Lebanese-flagged and operated by a Greek shipping company — stated that a Revolutionary Guard gunboat opened fire without radio warning and caused “severe damage” to the ship’s bridge, although there were no fatalities or injuries.
Both Reuters agency and the BBC channel, both British, have reported, citing maritime sources, a third vessel also attacked in Hormuz. The price of oil has responded to the news, which narrows negotiation options between Tehran and Washington, with a new rise. It is, once again, above $100 per barrel.
The commanders of the Revolutionary Guard Navy explained that the first two vessels attacked have been “intercepted and escorted to the Iranian coast” for having “endangered maritime security by navigating without the necessary authorization and by manipulating their navigation systems.”
The Iranian military body identifies two of the attacked vessels as the Epaminondas, Liberian-flagged and operated by the Greek shipping company Technomar, and the MSC Francesca, which it accuses of being “linked to the Zionist regime.” The latter belongs to the Italo-Swiss giant MSC, whose vessels have previously been attacked by Iran or groups linked to the ayatollah regime, alleging that some of the vessels it uses are owned by Israeli shipowners.
