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According to media reports on Sunday, three commercial vessels, including two oil tankers and a Qatar-owned LNG carrier, turned back while attempting to navigate the Strait of Hormuz through a southern route after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy warned them that the passage was closed.
The vessels included the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Velos Amber, the Liberian-flagged Bravo and the Marshall Islands-flagged LNG carrier Al Sheehaniya, operated by Qatar.
According to maritime tracking data cited by the semi-official Fars news agency, the three vessels changed course after receiving the IRGC Navy warning.
The development came as tensions between Iran and the United States escalated around the strategic waterway.
The IRGC said Iran’s aerospace forces launched several ballistic missiles at a US aircraft carrier and a destroyer after accusing the vessels of harassing Iranian ships and taking part in a naval blockade.
According to the IRGC, both US vessels left the area after sustaining damage.
The force warned that continued US military actions would trigger further responses from Iran’s armed forces.
The IRGC Navy said on Saturday night that it had targeted three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and three US-linked vessels in other areas.
The force claimed that the three tankers entered the strait through an ‘unauthorised’ route. It said the strikes came in response to US attacks on Iranian tankers earlier that day.
US Central Command, however, said US forces had struck three Iranian crude oil carriers after the IRGC launched ballistic missiles towards two US Navy warships operating in regional waters.
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